


On We March

by Fuzzball457



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-27
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-03 20:32:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/702350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzball457/pseuds/Fuzzball457
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>50 vignettes into the lives of Morgan and Reid. </p><p>All these vignettes are 500 – 1500 words, and based on a single word. Mostly angst and h/c but some fluff. Pretty mild slash, this one happens to focus more on the relationship, but some could almost be seen as bromance. They span across all seasons, I try to make it pretty clear where if it’s relevant in that one. Some connect to each other, but most are totally separate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #1-#10

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to post these 10 at a time here. I'm posting one at a time at Fanfiction.net under the penname Fuzzball457, if you wanted to see ahead, or you can just wait until the next ten are complete.
> 
> This is my first M/R slash story so feedback would be great!
> 
> Also, I don't own Criminal Minds in any way. Just playing :)

**#1**

**Word:** Jealousy  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 770

Ridiculous and stupid though it was, Reid couldn't stop the pangs of jealousy he felt whenever Morgan made a play on some girl. He knew it was never anything serious, all just for show. For his player's reputation, of course. But it still stung.

He couldn't decide whether it was better before or after the team knew. Before, well, it made sense. It was what they expected of him…but it also meant Morgan was afraid to admit he liked the skinny, awkward genius in that way. Like he was _ashamed_ of liking him. There were the fraternization policies to think about, of course, but Reid trusted the team not to tell. Trusted they would value his happiness over the rules.

But after the team found out…Reid couldn't help but wonder who the show was for. His reputation? The world? Or worse, Morgan himself? Was it that awfulthat only those closest to him could ever know, in absolute secrecy no less? Or was it that the only way Morgan could deal with this apparently embarrassing secret was to reassure himself that this dirty, wrong part of him was just that – a _part_ of him.

Reid tried to reassure himself that, no, it was none of that. It was fear that his masculine reputation – such a huge part of him – would be tarnished beyond repair. And if Morgan wasn't the masculine, confident player he acted to be, then who was he?

Yes, that was it. It was about Morgan's own insecurities, not about Reid.

Or so he told himself.

It was clear Emily had noticed Reid's white knuckles on his beer – something Morgan had introduced him to and Reid had become quite fond of since – and the way his expressive, amber eyes never left Morgan standing across the bar…and the woman he was playfully flirting with.

"It's not-" she tried to defend.

"I know," Reid said calmly (was that bitterness?).

"He would never, you know… _cheat_ ," she said tentatively.

"I know," he repeated.

Emily gently squeezed his shoulder and gave him a small, it'll-be-alright smile. She went over to join JJ and Garcia at a standing table. Hotch and Rossi were off in a booth talking quietly over two glasses of scotch.

Reid sighed and turned back to Morgan.

The thing that really got to Reid was that it only went one way. Reid _wasn't_ a player and he certainly hadn't been known as such. Morgan could hurt him in a way Reid could never. Reid couldn't just waltz up to some girl and show Morgan how very little their relationship meant to him.

To be honest, Reid could never hurt Morgan intentionally. He could never abuse Morgan's emotions or ever do anything to jeopardize what they had like that.

Morgan didn't seem to feel the same.

Something surged inside of Reid as the woman casually brushed Morgan's hand while reaching for her drink. Who did this…this bitch think she was? How could she do that? How could _he_ do that? How could Morgan stand there and smile at her obvious advances all the while knowing Reid was right there, ready to offer himself up to Morgan? Prepared to do _anything_ for him?

She pulled out her keys and gestured toward the door, a seductive smile on her lips and a soft hand on Morgan's shoulder.

' _He would never, you know…cheat.'_

_You wanna bet, Emily?_

Reid prepared himself. Prepared to follow Morgan and out him as the stupid jerk he was and hopefully ruin Morgan's night of kinky fun while he was at it. To announce that while he loved Derek with all his heart, he was _not_ an on-demand, whenever you feel like it, boyfriend. He would not be used. That was crossing the line. He prepared to go home and scream and cry from a good hour. Prepared to, unable to face Morgan, cautiously ponder his resignation.

Morgan shook his head and Reid's heart leapt into his throat.

She pouted but he only smiled softly. With a disdainful look, she stalked off. Turning around to lean on the bar, Morgan finally noticed Reid's unwavering stare. A large smile lit up Morgan's face as he looked at the frowning doctor.

In spite of himself, Reid grinned back.

Because Reid was the only one who ever got that honest to the bone, true to the soul, there's-no-one I'd-rather-see grin.

At the end of the day, it was _him_ who went home with Morgan. It was _him_ who got to see every side – even the vulnerable ones – of Morgan.

And it was _him_ and only him would could truly call Morgan his own.

 

 **#2**  
**Word:** Keys  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 1,100

"Come on, man, open up," Morgan pleaded as he knocked on the door that stubbornly refused to open. "Spencer, really. Enough of this. Open the damn door!" He was starting to get frustrated. He'd come over here to apologize and this was what he got. "I've got keys, you know," Morgan threatened.

When the young genius had first offered Morgan a key to his apartment, Morgan swelled with pride and pleasure. Hotch had a key to Reid's house as well, Hotch had one to everyone's house, for emergencies, but Morgan was the only other person on the planet who had one. Reid was a very private person and didn't trust easily. The knowledge that he'd been let into that very exclusive circle made Morgan grin with happiness.

Having said that, Morgan didn't' want to have to use the key. IT seemed a violation of Reid's right to use the key when he clearly didn't want to see Morgan and had very intentionally sought refuge, if the silent treatment followed by Reid's disregard of Morgan's good-bye and the ignored calls were anything to go by. But Morgan would use it if Reid didn't open up soon. Despite watching a perfectly healthy Reid stalk out of the bullpen almost two hours ago, Morgan couldn't in good conscience walk away if Reid didn't answer. Not after what happened to both Hotch and Elle in their own homes.

Most likely Spencer was just fine, physically. He was probably just mad, and rightfully so, but Morgan couldn't walk away from an angry, hurting Reid either.

Sighing to himself, Morgan dug out the little, silver keys. "You made me do this," he muttered. Slipping them into the lock, Morgan paused to give Reid one last chance before unlocking the door.

"Alright, I'm coming in." The least he could do was give Reid some warning before his entrance.

"Reid?" he called hesitantly as he slowly pushed the door open.

He wasn't in the living room. There was only a sliver of light shining under the door of a room down the hallway.

"Spencer, I'm sorry, okay? Can't we at least talk?" To Morgan's dismay, he realized the light was coming from the bathroom. All sorts of bad ideas filled his mind. He tried to have faith in Reid, to not let it get that far and to ask for help if he needed it, and faith in himself to notice the signs. But still doubt lingered.

"Spencer, open the door," Morgan said as he knocked shivering at the sense of déjà vu. Feeling a tingle of fear, Morgan opened the door. He took only a moment to appreciate the fact that Reid hadn't locked the bathroom door.

He was relieved to see not one syringe, tourniquet, or bottle of drugs. Reid's sleeves weren't' rolled up either. But really, what did that matter? It wasn't like Morgan had stealthily snuck into the bathroom with no forewarning, Reid had plenty of time to hide whatever he wanted.

Reid was leaning against the tub with his knees drawn up and his arms resting on top of them. He stared determinedly at the wall with slightly red, yet thankfully normal size, eyes.

"I'm not an encyclopedia, Derek, I have feelings," he said blandly without looking up.

"I know, and I'm sorry I hurt them," Morgan replied honestly.

"Yeah, well…" Reid sighed.

It hadn't been Reid's fault. Morgan had been having a bad day and it hadn't helped that this pride had been wounded by the girl he accidently spilled coffee on who called him an arrogant jerk who didn't think about anyone but himself. That combined with a particularly brutal case report and a happily chattering Reid caused Morgan to snap.

"For God's sake, Reid, will you please stop talking?" Both Prentiss and Reid looked at him in surprise. The flabbergasted look on Reid's face only served to irritate him more. "If I needed to waste five minutes of my life, I'd ask."

"Morgan," Emily scolded in disbelief.

"S-sorry, I thought-"

"Well, you thought wrong for once, Genius. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm actually trying to get some work done. Or is useless facts all you're good at?"

It certainly wasn't true. It was intended only to vent frustration and make Reid, who had been far too happy for Morgan's bad mood, just as miserable as him. Misery loved company and all that.

Reid was an amazing profiler, that much was certain. They all were. And while Morgan wasn't always interested – though he couldn't deny there were times when he truly was – he loved to listen to Reid ramble solely because of the joy and excitement on his face when he rambled about something that interested his brilliant mind. Unfortunately, Reid also made an easy target for Morgan's frustrated anger. And, being as close as they were, Morgan knew all Reid's weak spots and insecurities.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of it, Spencer, I swear." The glaring, fluorescent lighting and sterile white of the bathroom seemed far too bright for the somber mood.

"I know," Reid said softly. Taking deliberate steps so as not to startle Reid, Morgan came up next to him and sat down. "I'm stupid and oblivious sometimes," Reid added quietly.

"No, you're not. Kid, you're the smartest person in every room you've ever been in."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I never notice when I'm rambling or freaking people out or making them beg me to shut up. I mean, what if you guys have all been thinking that and I've just never noticed?"

"We don't think that. Not one of us. I promise you." Reid's brown eyes finally looked up to meet his. "We're your friends. We're on your side here. And if you do get carried away, we'll just let you know."

"My side, huh?" Reid said contemplatively. "It's nice, having someone in my corner…rooting for me. I never did, you know? It always seemed like everything and everyone was against me." He did know, and he was fairly certain everyone had felt that way at least once. Though no doubt the child prodigy with an odd home life and a terrible school life had to deal with it a bit more than the average person.

"I know the feeling." Morgan snaked his arm around Reid's shoulders and drew him close. Reid's head fell onto Morgan's shoulder and he made no move to reposition. "I'm sorry," Morgan whispered into Reid's hair.

"It's okay." A soft kiss was placed gently on the brown locks.

"I'm sorry I used the key you gave me to do something you obviously didn't want me to do. I was just worried. I didn't mean to…abuse the privilege."

"Morgan?" Reid shifted his face so he could look at Morgan's face. "I've never been more glad that I gave you that key." He nestled closer against the other agent.

Morgan smiled.

 **#3**  
**Word:** Water  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 700

Morgan hesitated the second his finger left the button, only just realizing his mistake.

"Oh, crap…" Not even thirty seconds later a surprised yelp sounded from down the hall followed by the sound of the shower clicking off.

"Morgan!" Morgan winced and went to the hallway, preparing himself. "Really, Derek, _again?_ " Reid demanded as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"I'm sorry," Morgan said, grinning in spite of himself. What could he say? The sight of a half-naked, dripping wet Reid always did him in.

"I'm starting to think you're doing this intentionally!" Reid said as he dried his hair with a towel. Droplets of water streamed down his neck and chest and soaked into the soft cotton towel wrapped around his waist.

"I swear I'm not," Morgan said, raising his hands up in surrender yet still grinning. "But I can't say I'm not enjoying this."

"Is it really that hard to remember not to run the dishwasher or flush the toilet while I'm in the shower?" Reid demanded.

"Maybe you should do something about the plumbing. Newer houses don't have the shower water problem."

"Maybe I should stop inviting you over," Reid countered, with no real heat. "I'm going to get dressed," Reid said, barely concealing his smirk at Morgan's pout.

"I got no problem with the towel."

"The neighbors might," Reid said, gesturing towards the open windows. "And it's hardly bureau appropriate."

"Adds a whole new meaning to casual Friday," Morgan added. Reid gave him _the look_ and went into the bedroom. Morgan went about making some apology coffee, making sure to add heaps of sugar to Reid's cup.

Reid was combing his still damp hair as he came back out and gratefully took the coffee cup.

"This doesn't make up for it, you know," Reid said into the coffee as he took a sip.

"Oh, yeah?" Morgan asked as he took a seat. "What do I have to do?"

"I don't know yet," he mumbled thoughtfully. Morgan watched hungrily as a bead of water trickled down Reid's thin face.

"I have some ideas," he couldn't help but say. Reid glanced up at him with bemused interest.

"We need to be at work in forty minutes."

"So?"

"We could go in early so maybe you could finish all your files instead of slipping them to me," Reid countered.

"What are you talking about?" Morgan asked innocently. He had been slipping Reid files, of course, going all the way back to when Elle was on the team actually, but it was a no harm no foul situation. The kid was quicker and enjoyed it more – like Morgan enjoyed it at all – so really, what was the big deal? Besides, if Reid didn't leave his desk to get more coffee every hour, Morgan wouldn't have such an easy time doing it.

"Your file pile always seems to be smaller than normal and mine bigger than normal," Reid said with raised eyebrows. He leaned back in his seat and took another sip of coffee, looking altogether satisfied with himself.

"Purely circumstantial evidence, kid, that's not enough for charges," he replied with a grin.

"I've got a witness too. Emily told me she saw you slip files into my pile."

"Now wait a minute, I saw her slip files into your pile too, you know," Morgan fired back before realizing his accidental confession.

Reid smirked before glancing at the clock. "Weren't you going to take a shower before we left?" he asked as he gestured at Morgan's pajamas.

"I was before someone took eons in the bathroom."

"I wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't refused to let me out of bed this morning. Now hurry up so we're not late." Shaking his head in defeat, Morgan got up.

Reid smiled as he stared out the window. He waited for the click of the bathroom door and the sound of the shower before getting up. Using his lithe frame to his advantage, he moved stealthily to the bathroom. Careful not to make a noise, he cracked open the bathroom door.

Barely able to contain a snicker, Reid flushed the toilet.

 **#3B (** I couldn't decide between the two so you get both) ****  
**Word:** Water (B)  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 1,000

It was fast. Faster than Reid could have possibly imagined. One minute he was sprinting down to the docks, shouting into his little microphone intercom that the Unsub was on Dock 7 and next thing he knew both the Unsub and he were falling, quite gracelessly, into the water.

Brown hair floating around obscured his vision as he fought against the hands suddenly holding him down. It was easy for Tylers, the Unsub, he still had on his oxygen tank. Reid, however, was going the good old fashion way and letting his lungs do the work.

_Morgan, help!_

He didn't have the bulk or strength necessary to throw off Tylers's larger form. The thick, bulky arms wrapped around his shoulders seemed an impossible weight, constantly pulling down. A steady ache was already building in Reid's legs as he kicked viciously. His nimble fingers scratched and clawed at the great hands pushing on him.

Blinking a few times, Reid tried to ignore the sting of the dirty water in his eyes. His lungs, they too were starting to protest the abuse.

_Please, someone! Help!_

Had the team figured out where he'd disappeared off to yet? Had they even arrived to deadly Dock #7? As panic began to set in, Reid doubled his efforts, thrashing violently and using every part of his body as a weapon. Elbows rammed into the chest behind him while arms attempted to get an overpowering hold on the Unsub's head, perhaps remove his mask and force him to surface. The legs too fought and Reid had, at the very least, the satisfaction of knowing that Tylers would not come out without severe bruising. He had fought. He didn't go quietly.

He hoped it would be enough for Morgan. And the rest of the team. And his mother, her too. Anyone and everyone who would be affected by his death, though he could think of no one else. His father maybe, but Reid didn't want to take the time to evaluate the man's possible feelings. Though he didn't win, he had fought. Fought like his life depended on it…which it did.

A weird pressure began to build in his ears and he twisted his head in discomfort. Throwing it back, Reid took pleasure in the jerk of pain from Tyler's as he got a head butt to the mouth.

A shimmering figure appeared above the water line, peaking down on them from above. Even from where he was Reid recognized Morgan come to save the day.

_Morgan! Hurry!_

The water began to blur into one mess of watercolor with no end and no beginning. His lungs screamed in agony and Reid knew he'd instinctually open his mouth soon as he passed out, sealing his already impeding fate.

The wave of water as Morgan dove in pressed against them, but Reid was too far gone to take advantage of the suddenly loosened hold on him.

Before he could register what was going on, the arms around him were forcibly removed and someone pulled his upper arm, propelling him towards the surface, then releasing him. Glancing down in a daze like a curious child, Reid saw Morgan – his knight in shining armor yet again – struggling with the Unsub. He had also taken the tactic Reid had and attempted to remove the oxygen mask with one hand while fighting with the other. Noticing his nearly-dead audience, Morgan spared a second to gesture Reid up to the surface.

Reid paused.

_I can't leave you._

Morgan gestured more.

_Go!_

The dizziness that attacked Reid forced his mind. Whether he wanted to or not, his body was going to bring him up for air.

The first breath of air was painful and Reid numbly wondered why he'd so badly wanted it just seconds before. That was followed by coughing and a sharp stinging in his chest and throat. Around was a messy, spinning world, a Monet gone rogue. People were shouting but he couldn't spare the thought to decipher their strange language. Hands grabbed at him and he fought back with all he had left. It was next to nothing and he was soon manhandled onto the dock. He was rolled on his side – these creatures were strange – and pounded on the back.

What was originally a swirl of skin and hair clarified into a face. Emily Prentiss's face. It was a worried face, wrought with fear.

Going to greet her, Reid coughed up more water and a bit of bile onto the damp dock and his limp head fell back down.

"Shh ," Emily cooed, softly rubbing his back. "Rossi and JJ are on their way," she said, looking up into the expansive forest bank. Though why that was relevant, Reid couldn't remember. There was only one name that mattered at the moment.

"Morgan?" His strong, curious question was nothing but a humble croak.

"Coming. He and Hotch are in the water getting Tylers." Hotch? Where had Hotch come from? Lazily turning his head at a slurping noise, he saw three heads appear in the water, one struggling and all gasping.

They lugged the coughing man onto the dock and climbed up after him. Morgan tossed the nearly destroyed tank and mask up next to them. Giving Reid one last smile, Prentiss rose to help Hotch drag the exhausted criminal to his feet. Morgan instantly filled her place.

"Hey."

"Hey," Reid replied. Scooting up next to him, Morgan pulled Reid up to lean against his muscular chest. Reid squinted his eyes against the bright sun and rolled his head to the side to shield himself.

He wanted to say several things, above all: thanks. He could feel Morgan's drained pants and wanted to acknowledge the effort Morgan went to in order to save him, though he doubted Morgan would think much of it. Probably didn't even think twice before jumping in and risking himself to save the younger agent. He wanted to say he was sorry he got separated from the police chief and followed the Unsub by himself. He also wanted to say 'I love you' because he'd come pretty close to dying today and it needed to be said.

But his exhausted eyes began to droop under the warm sun and against the firm chest.

 

 **#4**  
**Word:** Pity  
**Season:** 2, Episode 12 - Profiler, Profiled ( **SPOILERS** )  
  **Length:** 630

He could feel them staring. They weren't nearly as subtle as they thought. Their pity was practically palpable. But Morgan felt nothing but anger and betrayal.

There was a reason personal history was personal. He didn't need them digging through his past and he certainly didn't need them knowing _that._ He didn't want their pity and he didn't need them doubting his ability. He didn't want them to think him weak.

Especially Reid. He wanted Reid to think he was strong and capable and would always protect the younger agent. How could he do that if he couldn't even defend himself? If he allowed _that_ to happen because he thought it was the only way out of his miserable young life?

Unlike the occasional, attempted-subtly glances of the others, Reid stared open and blatantly, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared unblinkingly at Morgan across the jet. Morgan badly wanted to know what he was thinking, but no emotion showed on his face.

So instead Morgan glared heatedly at his magazine and pretended not to notice them. To go on like all was normal and the last few days hadn't shaken his life to the core.

Strange though it was, he also couldn't help but wonder what his family had made of Reid. He had mentioned the genius to them many times – in fact, they knew about his true feelings for Reid long before even Reid did – but they had never met. It wasn't the circumstances he would have liked, but at least there was a face to the name now.

He also had to commend Reid on keeping it together and still thinking like his analytical self. The team did not yet know about them, though Morgan and Reid had discussed how to tell them, and had the situation been reversed, Morgan would have had a hard time not exploding and giving it all away. But Reid did always have better control over his more…dangerous emotions than Morgan did.

Morgan couldn't contain a groan when he heard a knock on the door that evening. He really wanted to just go to bed and return to work tomorrow as though nothing had happened. It was probably Hotch, coming to scold him for his less than cooperative attitude while he was being held.

"What-" he started to ask as he opened the door. Before he could finish his question, the person burst through the doorway and kissed him quickly before pulling him into a hug.

"I was worried," Reid muttered into his shoulder.

"You didn't need to be," Morgan said with a chuckle.

"I thought we might not be able to find the real killer and they'd end up charging you." The fear was clear in his voice.

"Nah, I knew you guys would figure it out." Reid pulled back to look him straight in the eyes.

"I wouldn't have stopped until we did. I didn't doubt for one second that it wasn't you." It was clear Reid badly wanted Morgan to believe him and he did. The honest trust and fear at anything happening to Morgan was clearly written on Reid's face.

"I know," Morgan said quietly.

"I don't think any less of you. And while I hate that this happened to you, and that you had to go through that, I don't care about you any less because of it. It's part of what made you the man you are today and that's the man I love." Morgan could feel his own emotions for the younger man welling up in him and knew this was the person he would love above all others.

Reid smiled, his honest face saying it all.

And there was no pity in his eyes.

 

 **#5**  
**Word:** Fear  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 1,100

"Zip, my loves."

"What do you mean?" Hotch demanded.

"Mrs. Willows has no address or any sort of recent paper trail. She dropped off the grid about five years ago," Garcia replied.

"What sort of fifty year old drops off the grid?" Morgan asked.

"A sly fifty year old who knows her son is a murderer," Prentiss replied.

"Are you sure this man is going to kill his mother?" the police chief asked.

"So far all the murdered women have been surrogates for the real target of his aggression. Now that he knows his time is limited, he'll want to make sure he can get to her before he's stopped," Reid replied.

"All the women have been taken from their homes and killed somewhere else that has importance to them. Willows will most likely take his mother somewhere important to him to kill her, so maybe we can stop him that way?" Prentiss suggested.

"Or maybe the wife has the address somewhere?" JJ offered.

"Alright. JJ, put out another press conference. Make sure people are on the lookout for Willows and his car. Also stress that his is armed and dangerous and, at this point, will take out anyone who gets in his way. Reid, the wife seemed to connect to you the most during the interview, you go to her house and see if she has any idea where Mrs. Willows is. The rest of us will stay here, look through the profile, and see if we can figure out where he might take her." Everyone nodded and set to work, Reid shooting down Morgan's offer to come with him in the sake of time. 'They need you ready to break down some doors if they figure it out before I get back'.

Morgan could feel the adrenaline of closing in on the Unsub surging through his veins. He only hoped they could catch him before he took out his mother.

They bounced around ideas, trying to hurry but be thorough. Garcia sat, anxiously waiting, answering any questions as quickly as possible.

"Wait a minute, look at this," Prentiss said as she pushed the notes from the interview with the wife into the center of the table.

"What about it? It's all routine stuff – "I can't believe he could do something like this," "He was never violent towards me," "Always such a good husband," – nothing unusual from a family member of a suspect," Morgan said.

"That doesn't make sense," Hotch said, suddenly realizing.

"We profiled Willows to have an escalating sense of violence over the years. He had to have an outlet for his rage before he was pushed to murder. Battery, assault, juvie records, violent outbursts, job terminations, animal abuse, something. There's no way the wife didn't know about this. Even if she didn't know about the murders, she had to know he was a violent person," Rossi said.

"Not at all the way she described him in the interview," Hotch said.

"She's protecting him," Morgan realized.

"She's an accomplice," Prentiss concluded.

Morgan's heart began to beat wildly in his chest. Oh no…

"Reid's at her house, all by himself," Morgan said, looking desperately at Hotch. Prentiss softly gasped beside him.

"Let's go. Prentiss, call JJ in the car and tell her what's happening."

"Bring my baby home safe," Garcia called from her computer as they rushed out.

Morgan's fingers thumped impatiently against the window as they drove, not fast enough in his opinion. Hotch had taken the keys from Morgan and instead taken the wheel himself, a decision which infuriated Morgan, though it was probably the safer bet.

"Reid's not answering," Prentiss reported from the back seat.

"Damnit," Morgan swore under his breath. How did this always happen? How did Reid always end up right in the thick of it, no matter how hard Morgan tried for the alternative? If it were up to him, Reid would never get to leave the office, he'd never even go near the crazies. Though he could certainly hold his own, many Unsubs underestimated him and pinned him as the easiest target of the team.

And it never got easier, knowing Reid was in danger. And Morgan was deathly afraid for the day Reid's luck ran out. He didn't know what he'd do without the odd genius who had somehow wormed his way into his life.

Morgan was out of the car before it even came to a stop.

"Wait for the rest of us, Morgan! Do not go in that house by yourself!" Hotch shouted, but Morgan was already bursting through the front door, the other three just getting out of the SUV.

"Reid!" he shouted. There was no one in his sight and his adrenaline and worry only ratcheted up further. "Answer me, kid!" Behind him, the others rushed into the house, guns drawn and ready to take down anyone who had hurt their Reid.

Just as Morgan got to the staircase to check the upper floor, there was a bang from the basement. Ignoring Hotch's "Morgan!" he shoved his way past the others to be the first downstairs.

"Reid!" Morgan called as he went down the stairs, long ago abandoning any hope of stealth. Stealth was slow and he wouldn't risk one more second. An insane level of fear wrapped around him and niggled painfully in his stomach when he saw Reid's weapon on the stairs.

His heart leapt into his throat as he turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs. The dim lights reflected off the shiny silver as the axe swung towards Reid's head. He just barely dodged, missing it only by an inch. When she went to tug the axe out of the wall, Reid grabbed her wrists and pushed her away and against the wall.

"FBI, freeze!" Morgan shouted, finally coming to his senses. Reid looked over his shoulder and gave a halfhearted smile as reassurance of his wellbeing. Hotch, Prentiss, and Rossi came barreling down the stairs. Morgan cuffed her, taking great pleasure in her wince of pain as he jerked her arms back – damn lady nearly hit his Spencer in the head with an axe! – then shoved her off to Hotch.

"I'm okay," Reid promised. "She surprised me and pushed me down the stairs," he said as he retrieved his weapon.

"Whether you're okay or not, that axe only missed you by an inch. That's a sight I'm never going to forget." Morgan paused and let out a little breath of air. "I've never been so scared in my life."

"Me neither. But I knew you'd find me and save me before anything bad happened. You always do," Reid said with a soft smile.

"And I always will."

 

 **#6**  
**Word:** Doubt  
**Season:** End of Season 2/Beginning of Season 3  
**Length:** 530

Of all the thing to come out of the whole mess, it was the doubt Morgan hated the most. He loathed the tiny voice inside of him that spoke up with nasty comments and deep fears every time Reid disappeared into the bathroom or to get coffee in the months since somehow getting clean.

Morgan was proud, of course, of Reid for digging into reserves of strength and will-power Morgan wasn't even sure he himself possessed and overcoming his addiction on his own. It was said to be impossible, but then, Reid was just full of surprises.

There was also shame. For many reasons, some noble, but most selfish. Morgan let Reid's obvious struggle slide under the table and pretend he didn't notice. There was the obvious reason of bureau policy and Morgan didn't want Reid to lose his job over it. In fact, he wouldn't have allowed it. He wasn't going to let that bastard Tobias take one more thing from Reid. If the higher-ups had started to suspect something, Morgan would have tied Reid up and got him clean himself before anything could be proven.

And it'd look mighty suspicious if it was discovered the team all knew, or at least suspected, yet Hotch and Gideon had remained conveniently unaware. There was simply no way to deal with this without possibly incriminating everyone on the team. Any help offered needed to be under the table. But still none was offered.

Morgan hadn't wanted to confirm it to himself. Not only confirm Reid's self-destruct, but his own failure in protecting the youngest agent from the giant mess suddenly heaped onto him. Morgan couldn't face his own failure – a failure in the worst way – and so he selfishly allowed his teammate, who was really so much more than that, to flounder.

And now that it was all over and done, Morgan was hesitant to relax. One slip up was all it would take. He wanted to trust Reid and it was certainly stressful having a mini-freak out every time Reid was out of his sight, but their job was stressful and pushed them all to their limits. Addiction was a never ending, up-hill battle and, with enough pressure, even the strongest will could break.

Stronger than his fear of his failure was Morgan's desire to protect Reid so he swore to himself that he would not drop the ball a second time. If Reid slipped up, Morgan would catch him. They'd take some time off and Morgan would get him through the new bump in the road. He simply couldn't face the reality of a world without the awkward, yet adorable genius. It was impossible to even imagine not receiving Reid's quiet, but tender hello in the morning or his kind eagerness to help or the evening phone calls when they chatted about anything and everything – something that had temporarily stopped while Reid was using; yet another motive for Morgan to work doubly hard to help Reid – they were all such small details of life, yet each so important in their own way.

While he couldn't remove the tiny voice of doubt inside him, Morgan could _guarantee_ he wouldn't fail Reid again.

 

 **#7**  
**Word:** Microwave  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 550

"Did you know the microwave was invented by accident? A self-taught engineer named Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket accidentally melted while working in a lab building magnetrons in 1940. He then realized-"

"No, I didn't know that and all I did want to know was whether you thought we should use the oven or the microwave," Morgan said with raised eyebrows. Reid furrowed his eyebrows.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, well…a microwave uses-"

"Okay, oven it is." Morgan grabbed the bits of meat and slid them onto a tray.

"You don't have to do all this, you know," Reid said, leaning up against the counter.

"I know, but I want to. We haven't had a good evening for just the two of us in forever. You don't have to be in the kitchen, though. This is supposed to be _me_ making a meal for _you._ "

"Maybe I want to be here," Reid suggested with a smile. Morgan let his eyes drift closed and hummed to the music. "Looking at you, you'd never guess you're the type of person to cook."

"Oh? What type of person am I?" Morgan took a few steps closer, all but pinning Reid against the counter. Reid opened his smiling mouth to reply but paused, his face turning to shock.

"Morgan! Morgan, smoke. Smoke out of the oven!" Reid said, pointing over Morgan's shoulder. Morgan turned and sure enough smoke was slipping out of the oven. Instinctually, Morgan took a step back, shielding Reid, who promptly batted him out of the way.

"There's a fire extinguisher in the pantry," Reid said quickly. Smoke billowed out of the oven as Morgan yanked it open and pulled back, coughing. A piece of something had fallen to the bottom of the oven and caught fire. The smoke alarm began to go off, wailing away in the background. Morgan pulled the pantry door open and quickly grabbed the extinguisher. "Aim carefully, the average extinguisher only has 15 to 30 seconds of-"

"Really, Reid, now?" Morgan demanded as he pulled out the pin and pressed the handle to release the foam. Reid snatched up a towel and began to wave it at the smoke alarm.

Morgan panted a few times as he stared at their burnt disaster of a meal. "Great. Now what?"

"We could order in?" Reid offered. Morgan looked at him with a strange disappointment.

"Tonight was supposed to be special."

"We don't need a fancy meal for that," Reid assured him. "We'll light some candles and have some fancy take out then watch a movie or something." Morgan contemplated for a few minutes before grinning mischievously.

"Fine, but we're getting Chinese and you're going to use chopsticks."

"Now wait a minute-"

"Too late. It was your idea."

"Technically-"

"Nope." Morgan went over to the phone and pulled a Chinese take out menu out of the drawer. "What do you want to eat?"

Reid just scowled at him.

"Okay, then, I'll order for both of us. I'll have General Tso's Chicken and you get something very noodle-y…"

"Morgan!"

"Chow Mein it is then!"

After their dinner and movie, they finally faced the challenge of cleaning up the kitchen. Morgan groaned in dismay as he stared at the blackened mess in the oven.

"This is going to take hours to clean up," he complained.

"Told you we should have used the microwave."

 

 **#8**  
**Word:** Dread  
**Season:** Before season finale of S1 (Fisher King p1)  
**Length:** 800

"Morgan?" Reid asked quietly. The light coming from the bathroom door provided enough illumination for the genius to sleep comfortably, but not enough to see if the room's other occupant was awake. Because Garcia had insisted on booking the hotel for them ("I can get you the absolute best price out there, my duckies") they'd had no choice but to ask for a room with two beds. By the time they arrived there were no rooms available they could switch to so two beds it was. Reid didn't like the vast space around him, not only in the bed, but in the entire room. It was a good size room and Morgan's bed seemed miles away.

"Yeah?" he replied drowsily. Reid immediately winced, knowing Morgan had been close to falling asleep.

"Nothing, never mind," he whispered, hoping Morgan would let it go and go back to sleep.

"Spencer, what?" he asked. Reid once again winced at the light exasperation in Morgan's tired voice.

"Nothing, I'm sorry I disrupted your sleep. Go back to bed." The sigh was audible as Morgan sat up and flicked on the bedside light. He sleepily rubbed at his eyes and stared at Reid.

"What?"

"I told you, it was nothing. I…thought I saw something but it was just a trick of the light."

"Is that so?" Reid nodded. "Alright then." Reid couldn't help but stare in disbelief as Morgan reached out and flicked off the light. Yes, he did want Morgan to drop it, but…his uncaring disregard of Reid's blatant lie stung just a bit.

"Slide over," a voice said next to him. Reid tensed in fear before complying. "Now what was that really about?" Morgan asked as he leaned back against Reid's headboard. In the dark, only the vague outline of Morgan's frame was visible, but Reid looked away anyway.

"I'm just worried…I don't think I can do this."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can."

"I haven't seen her in over two years, Morgan," he replied, feeling the sharp pain of guilt in his stomach at the words.

"She understands you're busy."

"Not _that_ busy. We do get holidays and, whenever possible, weekends off as well. Not to mention I have seventeen sick days accumulated. It's not as though we're locked up in the office, I could have taken a few days to fly down and visit my mother."

"You're here now." Reid both dreaded and looked forward to seeing his mother. On one hand, it would be nice to see her after so long and to catch up in person. But what if she was having an episode? What if coming all the way down here was for nothing? Not only had he used some of his own sick time, but Morgan's – who insisted on coming – sick days as well. And what if she blamed him, as he blamed himself, for not visiting her earlier? There were excuses, true, but not enough to justify a two year absence. He'd dutifully written her everyday but sometimes the letters, which often contained lies or down plays of the truth so as to not worry her, felt disconnected as though he was an entirely different person on the paper.

"That's not good enough. You visit your entire family every year. You have a dog and multiple properties you have to worry about leaving for a week or so yet still you do it. I'm a terrible son."

"No," Morgan scolded, lightly knocking his shoulder against Reid's skinny one. "You're not. Our family situations are totally different, you can't compare them like that. Besides, that just makes each visit that much more special. And the fact that even though you're anxious about coming and what your mom will be like when you get there – I spend almost all my time with you, in and out of work, I know your expressions by now," he said at the look of surprise on Reid's face. "you still came. You overcame your own fears to see your mother."

"I shouldn't dread seeing her at all, that's just wrong."

"No, it's not. Anyone in your shoes would feel the same. It's always hard to see someone close to you in that state. We're here for two days. If she's out of it on one, we come back the next day. Besides, you've met my family, I think I need to meet yours," Morgan said with a grin. As the doubt still remained on Reid's face, Morgan pulled the younger man closer and wrapped him in his arms. Sliding down in the bed so they were laying down, he whispered, "Everything be work out just fine, Pretty Boy."

Lying there, wrapped in Morgan's protective arms, the dread melted away and Reid breathed easy for the first time since getting on the plane.

 

 **#9**  
**Word:** Pancakes  
**Season:** Season 6 ( **spoilers)**  
**Length:** 750

Everyone has one little thing they simply go crazy over. And Morgan's – muscular, athletic, kickass Morgan's – was pancakes. And Reid – shy, awkward, brilliant Reid - made the best blueberry pancakes Morgan had ever had the pleasure of eating.

So without fail, every Sunday morning, or if they were on a case, the morning after they got back, Reid made a batch of blueberry pancakes. It became a bit of a tradition. A silly one, but one nonetheless. Besides the pancakes, Morgan also loved knowing that Reid was willing to go to so much effort for him every Sunday. Reid loved to listen to the mmmh's and oooh's as Morgan savored each bite and he loved knowing he could make Morgan so happy with something so simple.

So when Morgan had walked down into the kitchen eagerly that Sunday, he froze and his smile hit the floor.

He'd almost forgotten.

Reeling from the loss of Emily followed by her return and revealed lies, Reid had been strung out and confused. Instead of drawing together in times of hardship, Reid had pushed away. It wasn't a break up, but a "temporary separation" as Reid had so eloquently put it. To put it simply, he needed to step back and evaluate his relationships with his friends and his place on the team and he needed to not have to worry about maintaining face for Morgan.

"It's not about you," Reid had assured him. "I just need some time by myself to figure this mess out."

So Morgan gave him time and space and pretended he wasn't falling apart inside. He was hurt by Emily's death and return almost as much as Reid, but he understood. Tried to anyway. Trying not to think about it had seemed the best approach because if Morgan thought about it too much he got mad and upset, not only on his behalf but, having seen what it had done to Reid, on Reid's behalf as well. _They were supposed to be a team!_

He missed Reid much more than he expected, especially considering it was only a "temporary separation". The missing pancakes were just the icing on the cake.

Sitting down to a breakfast of bland coffee and boring corn flakes, Morgan read the paper and tried to be interested.

**~CM~**

Morgan flicked his eyes open to stare at the bedroom ceiling. Monday, it was Monday. He had to face the team and, more importantly, Reid, whom he hadn't seen since Friday evening and Reid had explained his need for space. He could call in sick, just lay here all day. It was tempting.

That was the coward's way out though and reports needed to be filled and lives needed to be saved. In other words, he had a job to do. Glancing at the clock, Morgan realized he had just enough time to take a shower if he hurried. Deciding to make some coffee before getting in the shower, he got up and headed down stairs.

"What…?"

"Morning," Reid said casually, as though it was normal to spontaneously show up in someone's kitchen. He was sitting at the table drinking coffee, reading the paper, and nibbling on lightly toasted toast. On the opposite side was a plate of blueberry pancakes, butter and syrup sitting at the ready, and another cup of coffee. "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to get up," Reid said without looking away from his paper.

"Um…Reid?" Reid looked up at him, toast posed for a bite.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?" Reid's casual face fell and was replaced by self-doubt.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I should have asked before just showing up. I can go if you want," he said, rising from the table. Morgan stopped him just as Reid scooped up his coffee cup for a last sip.

"Reid…Spencer, no. I want you to stay, I'm just confused. I thought you wanted-"

"I know what I said. But this weekend…I was really lonely and I realized the only thing keeping me together through this…was you. And while I do need to figure this out, I need you to help me do that. Who knows, maybe you need me a bit too. By that time, I'd already missed Sunday morning so I high-tailed it over here early and made the pancakes. You're a really deep sleeper by the way, and sometimes you snore."

"I do. Need you, that is. I don't snore. And I'm really glad you're here."

"Then have a seat." Morgan complied, eagerly digging into his delicious as always, homemade pancakes.

 

 **#10**  
**Word:** Darkness  
**Season:** Early season 2 (before Revelations)  
**Length:** 700

Morgan tightly clutched the bare sheets next to him. Empty. Right. Because Reid was at home. And why wouldn't he be? They didn't live together and they had agreed that for now, it was best if neither spent the night during the work week. It didn't bother him. As much as he would have loved to have Reid spend the night every night, he understood the reasoning and certainly didn't want to push Reid. But it was hard, after a difficult case, to be away from Reid for even a minute. Especially after that case, when the victims looked so like Reid.

It was hard not to close his eyes and see the young, brilliant man sprawled, pale and dead, in some nondescript warehouse. And in those moments Morgan wanted to hold Reid, to assure himself that he was okay. The darkness made it worse. Reid was afraid of the dark. What if he woke up? Alone and scared?

Nonsense, he chided himself. Reid was a grown adult. If he woke up, he'd turn the light on. He didn't need Morgan to do everything for him. He'd been getting along just fine before they became an item.

Morgan flicked on the light.

Reality was that their job came with danger. And it'd catch up with Reid eventually. It nearly had that day when he and Hotch had been taken hostage in some hospital. It wasn't long after that Morgan confessed his love for the awkward man. But the thought of Reid never knowing how he felt…the thought of a world without Reid…it was all enough to make _him_ afraid of the dark.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax himself back to sleep.

No such luck.

Reaching over to the bedside table, Morgan picked up his cell and his thumb paused over speed dial number one. What would he say? What explanation could he offer? It was what - two in the morning? And besides, getting a two am call from Morgan would probably freak the poor kid out. He'd probably think someone died or something.

But still he couldn't put the phone down.

 _He's okay,_ he assured himself. Of course he was. Why wouldn't he? Well they saw the answer to that question every damn day. Deciding that was it, Moran swung his legs over the bed and crossed the room, intent on driving over to Reid's place.

But they barely got enough sleep as it was, Reid even less so, he didn't need to miss any more precious hours to Morgan's paranoia. And what would he say then? He could just…drive by. Confirm there was nothing suspicious going on, no open doors or bloody tracks.

 _Don't be ridiculous._ Stomping down on the stalker inside him who suddenly decided to make a surprise appearance, he purposefully crossed the room and sat down on the bed.

Just as he was about to turn off the light, his phone began to vibrate, the sound of _Bohemian Rhapsody_ filling the room. Snatching it up quicker than he would have thought possible, Morgan pressed the device tightly to his ear.

"Reid?" Already freaked out, Morgan half expected some terrible voice to come on with some creepy one-liner about Reid's life hanging in the balance.

"Morgan?" a timid voice asked.

"Yeah, Pretty Boy, what's up?" he asked, the late hour making his concern show brightly. And relief, there was some of that too.

"Nothing." For a profiler, Reid sure sucked at lying.

"Really?"

"Can we just talk?"

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know."

"Okay," Morgan said slowly. He wanted to help, really, but he was going to need more than that…

"Can you come over?" Reid suddenly asked. "This is so stupid, but…the last case…and my lamp light bulb died and I can't convince myself to go get another…"

"Not stupid at all," Morgan counter, already across the room. "I'll be right over." He grabbed a few things, among them his key ring containing a key to Reid's place, before slipping his shoes on. "See you in a few."

With that he was out the door, a 100 watt bulb in his hand.


	2. #11-#20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #11-20

**On We March  
#11: Glasses**

**Word:** Glasses  
**Season:** Season 3ish (I think there are a few episodes in there where he's still wearing glasses every now and then...if not, oh well!)  
**Length:** 550

"Do you think I look…nerdy?" Reid asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose a bit. Morgan appeared behind him, his reflection in the mirror doing the same to Reid's reflection.

"Nerdy? No. Adorable? Yes."

"I don't want to look adorable," he complained.

"You can't help it," Morgan assured with a grin as he flicked some hair into Reid's face.

"I'm thinking about getting contacts."

"Contacts? Why?" he asked with a frown. He didn't particularly mind either way, his Reid looked cute any way, but he was curious about the sudden change. Reid had passionately defended his love of his glasses many a time.

There had been a point where, yes, Spencer did look a bit nerdy (adorably so!). The only problem Morgan had with it was that it made people underestimate him even more. But now, a few years from the fresh-meat recruit he had been when they first met, Reid had found a place, a style. The purple dress shirt and loose hanging black tie looked nice, completed, of course, with the mismatched socks.

"No reason…" he said distractedly. Morgan's alarm bells began to ring.

"Why?" he insisted. "Did someone say you looked nerdy?" If Someone did, Someone was going to get a fist sandwich tomorrow, bureau policies aside.

"No."

"I have never heard a worst lie in my entire life," Morgan countered. He placed his hands on each of Spencer's shoulder, calmly reassuring him. "If you want contacts, get them because _you_ want them, not because of something someone said. And rest assured, they won't say anything again." _Not when I get done with them. That's a promise, Kid._

"I don't know. It's not like it wasn't anything I haven't heard a thousand times before."

"No one should have to get used to that sort of thing, Pretty Boy. Wait," he said, trying to read the dismayed facial features in the mirror. "How many things did this person say?"

"It was my fault. I missed the sarcasm…again. And then I lost track of myself and just kept rambling…then they were staring and that just made me ramble more…"

"I don't care what _you_ did, he-they had no right. You look fine with contacts or glasses, you look just like you."

"It's more than that. What is my problem? Why can't I ever hold a proper conversation?" Now Morgan looked dismayed.

"You hold lots of proper conversations. With me and everyone on the team. You're just self-conscious so you get nervous with other people. We'll work on it, I'll help you."

"Help me?"

"Yeah, work on showing confidence and on controlling your rambling," he said, unable to stop a bit of smile creeping onto his face.

"You don't have to."

"I want to. And I want you to tell me if anyone, _anyone_ , ever says anything like that to you again."

"I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I won't. I'll just file a complaint or something."

"Thank you," Reid whispered, a shy smile on his face.

"You're welcome. Now hurry up, we need to be at work in twenty minutes," Morgan said, clapping Reid on the shoulder as he went.

Fingering his glasses tentatively, Reid bit the inside of his lip. Slowly his slipped the glasses on and paused to evaluate what he saw.

Reid smiled.

**#12: Closet**

**Word:** Closet  
**Season:** Mid season 1  
**Length:** 680

"Did you know the stapler was invented-"

"No offense, kid, but the history of the stapler really isn't important to me right now," Morgan said, finishing his sentence with a kiss. Reid blushed and glanced around nervously.

In need of staple refills, Reid had gone to the supply closet where Morgan had cornered the poor kid.

"Someone might hear, we're just off of the bullpen area-"

"Which is always loud and busy so no one will hear." Going in for another kiss, Reid stopped Morgan with two fingers to Morgan's lips.

"Look, I love this new…thing we have," he said while gesturing between them, "but we need to work out a plan. The team will get suspicious if you disappear every time I go to the bathroom or to supply closet or something."

It was true that he hadn't been great about hiding his behavior. But now that everything was truly out in the open between them, Morgan was all too eager to explore this new relationship. And somehow his mind always drifted to the slender man across form him while he worked. To put it simply, he couldn't get enough of Reid.

"Fraternization is against the rules and, while I'd give up my job for you if I had to, I'd rather it not come to that. And if it did come to that, the only way we would even stand a chance of both staying is if we could prove it didn't affect our work in any way. And that means not running to the closet to make out every hour."

"I know," he sighed. He did, but saying something and doing something…

Looking Morgan straight in the face and showing a confidence he wasn't aware the younger man had, Reid said, "I love you. I want this to work. So why don't you come over today after work. We can have some dinner, watch a movie…and you can spend the night."

Both being the private people they were – though Reid more so when it came to their houses – they had yet to spend the night with each other. It was a newish relationship, after all. But if Spencer Reid, shy and private as he was, was willing to try out something he was most likely at least a little uncomfortable with, then Morgan certainly wouldn't rebuke the olive branch.

"Alright, kid. We'll do it. And I'll try to avoid obsessively staring while you work during the day."

"That'd be good. It's hard to work with someone watching you for literally hours." Morgan chuckled.

"How can I help myself?" he asked as he brushed some hair out of Reid's face. Once again going for a kiss, Morgan closed his eyes.

"Morgan?"

"Hmm?"

"Morgan, someone's coming."

"Yeah?" he said inattentively.

"Morgan, someone's coming to the supply closet," he whispered urgently while pushing the dark skinned agent back.

"What?" Sure enough footsteps were coming. Thinking as quick as he could, he reached up and swept half the items off of one of the top shelves. They ducked as office supplies rained down on them. Reid, catching on quickly – what a wickedly awesome brain he had – dropped to his knees and began to pick the supplies up.

The door, which was cracked an inch or two, opened all the way and Hotch paused as he realized there was not one, but two agents already in there.

"Morgan? Reid?" Glancing down at the items in his hands, Reid's brain jumped into overdrive.

"I was just getting some stickey notes when Morgan came in and startled me. I bumped into the shelf and knocked all this stuff off. Morgan was just helping me clean up. Thanks for that, by the way," Reid finished as he collected the last of the items in his arms and stood up.

Hotch frowned at them for a few seconds while he looked them over, trying to come to a conclusion about the story. "Right, well…be more careful next time," Hotch said. He grabbed a pad of paper off the shelf and walked away, that contemplative look still on his face.

**#13: Handcuffs**

**Word:** Handcuffs  
**Season:** Seasn 2, episode 12 - so **SPOILERS**  
**Length:** 575

Morgan could sense it and knew it was real, just as real as the handcuffs attaching him to the table. Reid was there, he could feel it, just on the other side of the mirror. What was he thinking?

Despite his best efforts, his secret was going to come out. His team was the best and he had never doubted their abilities. He was not arrogant enough to believe that those abilities couldn't be used against him just as effectively.

The question was what would Reid think? He knew it was just on the other side, but, without even body language to read, he had no idea what was running through the kid's mind.

Over the years Morgan had taken great pleasure in slapping the cuffs, none too gently, on various scum. It felt particularly nice after a difficult case. But now that he was on the other end, he was coming to hate the little bastards.

Not only did it mean he was a suspect – a freaking _suspect!_ – but it also meant he wasn't out there helping his team catch the real bad guy. More than all that was the fear about Reid. Even Morgan had to admit he'd done some pretty suspicious things when you put it all together and maybe Reid was wondering what the real story behind it all was. Maybe he was upset that he hadn't been told about the other aspects of his annual trip to see his family. And maybe a tiny part of him couldn't help but suspect him. Morgan didn't blame him. As he had come to learn, Spencer Reid was a man of facts and statistics and solid evidence. Even if he didn't think Morgan was the killer, he was probably subconsciously approaching the situation that way – if Morgan was the killer why was he doing this and if he wasn't the killer why was he doing that – it all came down to Morgan as a suspect.

He thought he saw a flicker of a difference in light on the mirror, like someone had touched the other side and blocked the light. It was tiny and the average person probably wouldn't have noticed it but Morgan was a profiler and he was ninety percent certain the person on the other side was his genius.

The doorknob jiggled just a bit then paused, like the person was hesitating, before slowly opening. His expressive eyes were wide and worried and his slender arms hugged his midsection protectively.

For a few minutes no one said anything. Reid hovered just a few feet inside the door, which remained slightly cracked open. Morgan sat there, trying to wear nine different masks of emotion at once.

"We – the team – are working really hard…we'll get him, don't worry," Reid offered quietly. Morgan just nodded. Of course they'd get him. But when? He had a fair idea who it was and sitting here arguing over how to tell without _telling_ was driving him mad. He also wanted to ask if Reid knew yet, but what if he didn't? That'd give it all away.

Opening his mouth wide, Reid yawned and Morgan noticed for the first time how exhausted he looked. How worn out and stressed.

_I did that._

The desire to pull Reid into his arms and just draw comfort from each other was nearly overwhelming.

But the handcuffs restrained him and he hated them that much more for that.

**  
#14: Afterlife**

**Word:** Afterlife  
**Season:** Seasn 7, episode 6 - so **SPOILERS**  
**Length:** 725

Reid could tell by the look on Morgan's face that he was upset Reid hadn't told him the whole afterlife story, but really after being rescued from the hands of Tobias Hankle (who really wasn't a bad person, it was Charles Hankle who was the bad person) his afterlife story was perhaps the last thing on his mind.

But he still thought he owed Morgan an explanation.

"Was it nice?" Morgan asked quietly on the plane home. He didn't look away from the window or move his headphones in the slightest.

"What?"

"The _afterlife_ ," he asked sounding both sarcastic and hurt.

"Morgan, that's not fair. I don't even get why you're mad. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I had a few other things on my mind."

"Did it bother you? Did it excite you? Because I'm pretty damn sure if I saw 'the afterlife' or whatever, I'd be excited and freaked out and ten types of confused. Add on the situation surrounding it…"

"Well, I mean, yeah, I thought about it a later afterwards, but…"

"But you should have told me." Reid could see where Morgan was coming from, because yeah, it had been a big deal, and yes, it had freaked him out, but really. Sometimes you just needed to think things through for yourself.

"It wasn't a big deal."

"It doesn't matter if it was a big deal or not. Relationships are about the little things just as much as the big things. Just because your day was the most thrilling doesn't mean I don't want to know how it went. And by the way, that? That's a big deal."

"I get that," Reid snapped. He knew how a relationship worked. Well, as much as a person could anyway.

"Do you? Because something this big, that's messing with your mind…I'd like to be clued into that." Reid sighed noisily and went to grab a book from his bag. "So was it? Nice?"

"No," Reid replied instantly. And if Morgan couldn't spot that lie a mile away, then he needed a new job.

"So yes then."

A shiver went through Reid. Yes, it was nice. It was peaceful and quiet and warm and not a cabin where he was handcuffed and in a drugged up agony and scared shitless for his life. Somewhere where he didn't have to think through every word, analyze behavior traits to figure out who was in front of him, and try to figure out how to get coded messages to the team. To be frank, it was an end of the pain and fear. Was it weak to enjoy that? To want to stay there forever? Reid remembered the pull as Tobias fought to bring him back. Not that he even just spared him, but Tobias had actually worked to bring him back. He should have been grateful, his life was saved. Not many kidnapped people were given that gift. But still Reid was a bit upset. The quiet was nice. And there wasn't much waiting for him. But, there was still one more factor that extended beyond the peaceful _afterness_ and the awful present. A deciding factor.

"Yeah."

"No one would hold it against you if you, uh…didn't want to, er, come back?" He sounded like he wasn't even sure the words made sense.

"I didn't. Not really. I was so scared, and everything hurt, and the drugs were making me super confused and dizzy and that just made things worse…But," Reid added, pleased he had at least one honest thing to say that wouldn't make Morgan look so wounded. "I did come back. For you guys."

"Us?" Morgan's eyes jumped up to his in surprise.

"Yeah. You guys are my family and I knew you were working hard to find me. Figured least I could do was be there for you to find," Reid said with a shy smile. "Besides, the thought of not seeing you again, at least not for a while, well I just had to come back, didn't I?" Morgan full out grinned and Reid's little smiled morphed to match his.

"Damn right you did. And don't you be thinking about going anywhere any time soon, Pretty Boy." Morgan looped an arm over Reid's shoulder for a quick one armed hug and a tiny kiss to Reid's head.

"Wasn't planning on it."

**#15: Fountain**

**Word:** Fountain  
**Season:** Mid to end season 6, very brief **SPOILERS** for 'Lauren'.  
**Length:** 550

The cold helps.

Reid stares at the water, rippling under the force of the rain drops. He stares and thinks that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to fall in and let the water wrap him in its embrace and engulf him.

It's not death he wants. It's quiet. It's peace. A break from a hellish job and the mauled bodies and the people needing help and the mind that never stopped running. The rain dripping through his dress shirt, no coat, is cold, but that's okay because the cold is numbing and that makes his mind slow down a bit. It makes the headaches a bit more bearable and the fear, the fear of becoming his mom, retreat just a bit.

He knows the symptoms. It could easily line up with schizophrenia, but Reid is not so paranoid as to disregard the possibility of other ailments. He is still desperate and not yet hopeless. But the doctor said nothing wrong. No physical problems. And as the great Sherlock Holmes once pointed out, when you rule out all other possibilities, the only remaining one, no matter how illogical – or how much you wanted it to not be that – must be true.

So he thinks. And he doesn't tell Morgan he went to the doctor or what the doctor said. Morgan thinks he has headaches, but doesn't understand that they're not just headaches, they're _agonizing_ migraines and they last for days. It's a secret Emily took to the grave and Reid is starting to think maybe he'll take to his.

And the cold helps. Just a bit.

Watching the faint mist of his breath, he knows soon it'll start to get too cold for the fountain. And they'll turn it off and drain it and then where will Reid go to waste hours?

He's probably going to get sick. Out in the rain sitting on freezing cold stone with nothing but a dress shirt and pants…

The leaves, crisp in the cool autumn air, crunch under someone's feet. Morgan is there now and stares at Reid sadly. It's not the first time Reid's been found here in the cold rain. Real worry is starting to become blatant in Morgan's stare and Reid is sorry for that, but can't stop himself.

The cold helps.

Morgan sits down, there's a spasm of surprise on his face when he realizes just how cold the stone is through his jeans, but he doesn't move away. The jean jacket over his muscle shirt isn't enough and Reid sees how he begins to shiver.

He doesn't say anything.

After a few minutes, Morgan leans over and wraps both arms tightly around Reid, drawing him into his jacket and against the soft cotton over his chest.

It's sturdy and warm and normally enclosed spaces and heat make his headaches so much worse.

But the warmth and tight hold of Morgan don't make it worse. They make it better, better even, than the cold makes it.

The pain doesn't just lessen, the fear and worry don't just abate, but peace and contentment come in alongside them.

The cold helps.

But Morgan helps more.

**#16: Hold**

**Word:** Hold  
**Season:** Let's say late season 2ish, but really whenever you picture it.  
**Length:** 650

"Jesus Christ, Reid!" Morgan said as he leaned over quickly, barely stopping Reid's graceless descent to the ground. "How much did you have to drink?"

"I don't know," he said pleasurably.

"I leave you alone at a bar for an hour and this is what I come back to. I can't take you anywhere!" he complained good-naturedly. "I mean, what? Did someone slip you something?" It was originally asked in humor, but as soon as he said it, his skin prickled worriedly. That could have happened. It was a reasonable possibility while he wasn't there to watch the kid's back. And so help him god, if someone _did_ slip Reid something…

"I hope for their sake they didn't," Reid chuckled, clearly reading Morgan's anger correctly, even in his…compromised state.

"Me too." As they stepped out into the evening air, Reid shivered and Morgan pulled him closer. "Love you," he whispered suddenly.

"I love you too." A dopey smile graced the elegant features. "And you know what else? Beer. I. love. Beer."

"Funny, because three hours ago when I first brought you here, you said you didn't care much for it."

"You changed my mind," he said, grinning stupidly all the while. That much was obvious; Reid positively reeked of it. "We should drink more often." Jesus, he sounded like a teenager getting drunk for the first time. Which, now that Morgan thought about it, maybe it was his first time. Not like he had much time for it in college. Far too busy getting all those PHDs and not getting killed by the older kids. Then the academy, then the BAU…Damn, he may not have many years but they sure were jam packed years.

"Just wait until tomorrow morning when you're holed up in the bathroom." Carefully balancing Reid with one arm, Morgan dug out his house key with the other and opened the door. Clooney was on them almost immediately, eagerly smelling them – particularly Reid – and celebrating their return. Despite the Reid Affect, Clooney had actually taken to Spencer quite quickly and had become rather protective of the man. That was the other Reid Affect apparently.

"Come on, I'll grab you some pajamas for the night," Morgan said as he directed Reid, who was petting Clooney with uncoordinated movements, toward the bedroom. He sat Reid on the bed, told him not to move, and went into the closet to see if he could find something that would even sort of fit the slight man.

"I told you to stay on the bed!" Morgan exclaimed when he came back out.

"I am on the bed." That much was true, however, it wasn't what Morgan had in mind. Reid was standing in the middle of the bed, eagerly examining a crack in the ceiling as though he was a Ceiling-Crackologist. "I thought it was a snake," he said disappointedly as he poked it once, just in case the snake was holding out on him. "And I was like…why is there a snake on the ceiling?"

"Come down before you break something," Morgan complained, trying not to snicker too much. Reid stumbled towards Morgan, the squishy mattress throwing off his movements even more, and made it all the way to the edge, before commencing a head-dive to the floor. "Whoa!" Morgan said, leaping forward just in time to catch Reid over his shoulder. Reid, bent double over Morgan's shoulder and limp as a rag, burst into giggles.

"Jesus!" Morgan exclaimed. Reid's near cracked skull aside, it was actually kind of funny and soon Morgan was laughing too.

"Don't you know…" Spencer paused to snicker, "you should never turn a drunk person upside-down?"

"Is that so?"

"I'm gonna puke on you," Reid laughed.

"Well in that case…" Morgan flopped Reid onto the bed. He immediately buried his head in the pillow, but Morgan could still hear his muffled sniggers.

"What am I going to do with you?"

**#17: Socks**

**Word:** Socks  
**Season:** Nonspecific  
**Length:** 600

Morgan yawned as he woke up, barely registering his surroundings. He looked around the living room and the TV playing only static and put two and two together. Glancing down at the soft brown head of hair resting on his chest, a grin forced its way onto his face.

A look to the clock revealed it to be just after three in the morning.

"Pretty Boy," he said softly. Reid mumbled something then nestled tighter against Morgan's chest.

Smirking to himself, Morgan mutter, "Fine, I'll do it the hard way."

He gently lifted up Reid's shoulders and worked on sliding out from underneath. After untangling their legs, Morgan got the rest of the way out. He went to put Reid's dangling arm back on the couch, but the pale hand tightened around his as soon as they touched. Glancing up, Morgan confirmed Spencer to be asleep and lightly shook his head.

"How I came to love you this much, I'll never know," Morgan whispered. Reid stirred – looking all too much like an adorable puppy in just his rumpled dress shirt and boxers ( _damn those legs were tantalizing)_ and blearily opened his eyes.

"'rgan?"

"Come on, kid, I'm moving us to the bedroom. It'll be more comfortable and I'm sure our backs will thank us come tomorrow." Moving slowly, Reid looked down the hallway towards the bedroom then looked at Morgan in confusion.

"What?" he asked blearily.

"You just have to get up and in a few steps you'll be back to sleep, in a more comfortable bed," Morgan assured him with a smile.

"M'kay," he mumbled before sitting up with uncoordinated movements.

After reaching down to grab Reid's hands, Morgan said, "Alright, up you go." Reid allowed himself to be pulled into a standing position only to sway dangerous. "Whoa!" Morgan exclaimed, barely managing to catch the young man before he fell over. "Okay, fine, we'll do this the other way." Morgan scooped Reid up into his arms and smiled in pleasure when Reid, now nearly asleep again, tightened his hold around Morgan's neck and pulled himself closer in.

"You need to eat more, you barely weigh anything," he decided to add as he went down the hallway. Not like Reid would hear it anyway. He was glad that he'd been with Reid long enough to consider the younger man's flat to be like a second home, otherwise the situation might have been a bit more awkward. Imagine if he accidentally put them to bed in the guestroom instead of the bedroom or something equally embarrasing!

As soon as Reid hit the mattress, he instantly curled up, twisting the sheets under him in a tangled mess.

"Under the sheets, kid, not over." Reid stopped him as he went to pull the sheets out from underneath.

"Wait. Will you take my socks off first? It's too hot with them on." Morgan followed the genius's long legs and smirked at the mismatched socks.

"Just like you to take your pants off but leave on your socks."

"Too cold," he mumbled, not even opening his eyes.

"I thought you said it was too hot?"

"Too hot now, too cold then."

"Oh." He pulled off the socks and tossed them towards the hamper, not even bothering to pick the one that missed up and stick it in. "Do you want me to get you a different shirt?" he asked as he looked at Reid's dress shirt.

"No," Reid stated, now just on the precipice of sleep and not willing to come back.

"Fine, but you're doing the ironing," Morgan replied as he eyed the rumbled mess.

**#18: Letter**

**Word:** Letter  
**Season:** Early Season 3  
**Length:** 1600

Derek hated Jason Gideon. Hated him for abandoning the job, for abandoning his team which needed him, but mostly for abandoning Spencer. In the worst way. There was no easing in to it, no 'I'll keep in touch', nothing. Just up and left in the dead of night and left Reid to whither in the mess.

"Spencer? Open up, I know you're in there." No amount of knocking or calling seemed to provide the outcome he wanted. Gently massaging the bridge of his nose with one hand, ( _How could you do this to him, Gideon? Leave him like this? Especially knowing about Reid's father's abandonment?)_ he reached into his pocket with the other and drew out his key.

"I'm coming in," he said, offering fair warning.

A familiar, sock-clad foot dangled over the arm of the couch. "Spencer, I see you," he informed. Expecting the foot to withdraw and Spencer to attempt to still ignore his presence, he was surprised when it didn't move. A bolt of worry shot through him. "Spencer?" He asked, a tinge of worry to his tone.

With quick movements, Morgan rounded the couch and froze. When he first saw the open, unblinking eyes, his heart skipped a beat. _Oh God!_ But no…Reid's chest was still rising and falling. He wasn't dead, just…dazed?

"Spencer?" Reid didn't move. He was lying on the couch with his hands clenched around the pillow under his head and one knee drawn half-way to his chest while the other stretched out and over the armrest. The kid was just too damn tall, Morgan thought with a flicker of a smile.

It was the eyes that were really scaring him. Morgan didn't know what he was staring at – the bookcase maybe? – but his gaze was unwavering, if not a bit blank. Like if he stared hard enough the book case would go up in flames and take his problems with it.

Morgan had been dreading this…this breakdown. He knew it would happen eventually, but that didn't mean he had to like it. The day after finding Gideon's letter, they'd been whisked off on a case and Reid had had to put his attention and his brilliant mind elsewhere. But now that they were home, with the entire weekend facing them no less, Reid had a chance to slow down and think. To fall apart.

Morgan sighed and dragged a weary hand over his weary face.

"Look, Reid," he said softly as he took a seat on the end of the couch, this thigh brushing against Reid's bent knee. "I know you're…upset about Gideon leaving, but there are a few things you need to know." Slightly unnerved by Reid's lack of reaction, he continued. "First of all, this isn't your fault. It's not about you at all. Gideon didn't leave because of you and he didn't leave you personally." Morgan hoped that didn't come out wrong, but Reid didn't show any reaction either way. "I mean it wasn't because he wanted to leave _you,_ it was because he couldn't handle the _job_ anymore. Sometimes the job just becomes too much, especially with what happened with Sarah…If there was anyone he regretted leaving, it was you. That's why he left the letter." Morgan expected Reid to say something along the lines of why Gideon couldn't say goodbye in person, but Reid still stayed silent, his emotionless stare still unmoving. It was really starting to creep Morgan the hell out. Praying that Spencer just didn't feel like talking, but was still listening, Morgan addressed the question anyway.

"I think if he saw you…he wouldn't have been able to leave. He probably couldn't bare your disappointment or your pain knowing he caused it. In order to get away from the job, he had to start fresh and I think, like it or not, you reminded him too much of the job. Kid, he knew that if he talked to you, you'd ask him to stay and I think if you did ask him…he wouldn't have been able to refuse."

Morgan stared at Reid's chest for a second to remind himself that this cold statue was actually Reid. That he hadn't spontaneously died in the middle of Morgan's speech. Because, seriously, where the hell was his inquisitive, emotional Reid to analyze each word Morgan said and weigh the truths of the situation?

"He loved you like a son, Spencer. And know, that no matter where he goes, you can bet he'll keep an eye on you. Check up on you without you knowing. He could move to China and he'd probably still read the Virginia papers just in case you're in there."

Restraining the urge to grab Reid and shake him, he continued. "You're strong, Pretty Boy, more than you ever give yourself credit for. You'll get through this. You have me, don't forget. And the whole team really. Take a few days off if you need them. I will too if you need _me._ And if you want to scream and throw things, by all means, go ahead. I'll be here to pick them back up and put them back where they go. And if you wanna eat ice cream and cry your eyes out, go ahead. I'll be here with a spoon and some Kleenex."

Congratulating himself on what he considered to be a pretty damn good emotional pick-me-up speech, he couldn't help but be a bit disappointed as Reid didn't move.

 _Fuck you, Gideon_ he though. For destroying his Reid into a million little pieces that were going to be harder than he thought to rebuild. Maybe they'd never go back quite the same way.

"You see that book over there?" the tiny, uncaring voice startled Morgan.

"Which one?" Morgan asked, glancing at Reid out of the corner of his eye. No movement. Still staring at the bookcase (which was full of books so _that book_ wasn't gonna cut it).

"The red one." Just as Morgan was about to point out there were about ten red books, he realized which one. There was an average sized, old and worn red one smack center of the book shelf – center position on the center shelf – that he realized to be the object of Reid's focus the entire time.

"Yeah?"

"Go get it. Open it." So help him god, if it was the last damn thing he did, Morgan was going to get his wonderful, caring, curious Reid back with his young, expressional eyes back.

"What page?" he asked as he picked the book up. It had an odd weight to it, not at all what you'd expect for a book it's size.

"Doesn't matter. Just open it. They're…all the same." With a familiar, foreboding misstep in his chest, Morgan opened the cover.

Fuck.

Dilaudid. A syringe. Stowed away carefully in an expertly carved hole in the middle of the pages. He fingered the little bottle, his muscles aching to pick it up and pelt it out the window next to the bookcase.

When he looked up, Reid was sitting up, staring at him, looking at him like 'Yeah? So what are you gonna do about it?'.

"What the hell is this?" Morgan demanded as he slammed the little bottle down onto the coffee table – as far from Reid's reach as he could place it.

"It's a heavily addictive narcotic drug called-"

"That's not what I mean!" Morgan yelled. The people in the next apartments could probably hear but so what? Fuck them! The anger slipped away and a nauseating fear replaced it. "You didn't…?"

"No."

"Good. Reid, you're better than this, stronger than this."

"I wasn't before-"

"Don't interrupt!" Morgan snapped. "And I care about you way too much to watch this happen again. I know Gideon leaving hurts, but this? This ain't gonna make it any better. It might make you forget for a bit, or maybe not care for a bit, but in the end, reality is what it is. And, unless you plan on staying eternally high for the rest of your life, you're going to have to deal with reality sometime. This shit will only make it worse when you do. So forget that. Take a few days to sort out your thoughts, get through your emotions, and then move on. This is not the end of the world, Kid. Gideon's gone. Okay. But there are five other members of your team that aren't gone. We're a family, we'll get through this just like we do everything else." Reid stared up at Morton's imposing figure and slowly rose to his feet. It was strange, like a dangerous beast slowly uncurling to show you just how big and scary it really was. Morgan struggled to maintain authority as Reid stood up to full height, which was, sadly, slightly taller than Morgan.

He could see emotions shifting through Reid's eyes like a man shifting through junk to find the treasure. An emotion displayed for a few seconds, just long enough for Reid to examine it and move on. For almost two minutes they just stood there, staring at each other.

Reid suddenly bolted towards the bathroom. The door shut with a slam.

He shook his head in surprise and confusion then bent his head to massage his scalp. Jesus he needed an Advil…

Morgan froze.

The drugs. The Dilaudid. It wasn't on the table. With dawning horror Morgan looked towards the shut bathroom door. He'd been so focused on Reid's eyes, waiting for a breakdown…he hadn't even noticed the nimble, magician's fingers grab the little bottle…

**#19: Euphoria**

**Word:** Euphoria – connected to #18  
**Season:** Early Season 3  
**Length:** 650

"Open the door, Reid!" Jesus Christ, how many times had he done this? Banged on a door demanding Reid open it? But this time was different. If the door wasn't opened in five damn seconds it was going down. "Don't do it, Reid!" He wasn't going to wait for the mess to start all over again. Addiction would not rear its ugly head again. It was hard enough the first time.

He slammed into the door and the flimsy bathroom lock gave away.

"Spencer, what…" he trailed off as he saw what was before him.

Reid was standing at the sink, the last trails of Dilaudid swirling down the drain. The upside down bottle was suspended from Reid's fingers a few inches from the porcelain and Reid was staring at it unblinkingly, a frown on his face.

Morgan stood in the doorway, trying to get his racing heart to slow back down. He couldn't seem to move.

"When I first came in here," Reid said as he rolled the bottle between his fingers, "I had full intention of using. I still have – had – a few syringes." Morgan spotted them in the trashcan. "But then I stopped. Remembered all the…the shit from the first round. It wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth hurting me and hurting you and destroying everything I've worked for. Besides, it's not what… _he_ would have wanted." Morgan was pleased that Reid hadn't turned bitter and resentful towards Gideon. A bitter Spencer was not his Spencer. Besides, Morgan was bitter - _fucking furious -_ enough for both of them.

"And what do I need it for anyway? I've…I've got you," Reid said with a tiny shrug and wet eyes.

Chest constricting, Morgan was swept with such a…such a _love_ for the man before him, it seemed impossible that there was anything in the world except for them. It was just them, here and now, everything else could wait.

He crossed the bathroom with a few steps and pulled the younger man into a bone crushing hug. Reid's long arms instantly came up and sealed the circle. Wrapped tightly together, they both sank to the ground when Reid's knees gave out.

"And I've got you," Morgan said, his voice muffled by the brown hair pressed against his face.

"Always have…" Reid's voice was suspiciously wet.

"And always will," Morgan finished.

Neither was entirely sure who started the movement but somehow they ended up laying on the bathroom floor, legs intertwined, Reid's head resting on Morgan's chest, and Morgan's strong hand gently running through Reid's hair.

Tears were running down Reid's pale face, but he was smiling in relief as the pain was purged from his system.

Morgan was smiling for an entirely different reason as he looked at the head on his chest. This, this right here? This was perfection. This was _love._ This is what people should spend their lives trying to get, not some useless shit like money or power. What did that crap matter if there wasn't someone to share it with?

Happiness, relief, love, contentment…it washed over Morgan in one euphoric swirl of emotion. Euphoria, that was a good way to describe it.

"You know what we should do?" Reid asked with a voice still wet from crying yet at peace with the world.

"What?"

"Tomorrow we should go rent a cabin somewhere. Somewhere secluded. Just the two of us for the whole weekend. And maybe Monday. And maybe even Tuesday."

"Definitely until Tuesday," Morgan agreed, enjoying the idea quite a bit. "Any reason why?" It was sudden and Reid taking a vacation day for, well, a vacation? Practically unheard of. Reid only missed work if he was sick, and even then only if he was physically incapable of getting up and going to the office.

"Just a break, I suppose. It'll be nice, just you and me. We can relax, admire the sights, talk," Reid closed his eyes as he imagined it all.

"And fuck like rabbits." Reid's eyes darted open and a large smile spread across his face. Propping his head on his elbow, resting on the cool tile, he stared at Morgan.

"Actually rabbits…"

**#20: Sympathy**

**Word:** Sympathy  
**Season:** After Conflicted (4x20) - Spoilers for Revelations and the following episodes.  
**Length:** 650

Reid had forlornly concluded that Morgan didn't understand. And he was right, Morgan didn't understand. Didn't understand at all.

Whenever he thought of Tobias Hankel, the first thing that came to mind each and every time was wishing he could have got there earlier and killed the bastard himself.

He thought of a man who had kidnapped, tortured, and drugged his Reid. _Killed_ his Reid. There was no forgiveness from Morgan and there was no sympathy either.

But not so for Reid. For some reason Spencer seemed to feel for Tobias.

Morgan didn't realize it until the case in Florida, the one with Adam Jackson and Amanda. Standing on the roof top after the case was done and over, listening to Reid berate himself for not noticing the signs of DID earlier, Morgan realized. Reid held only Charles Hankle and Raphael accountable for his stay in hell. He held no blame for Tobias.

One of the hardest things of being a profiler was when it all made sense. When looking into an Unsub's past revealed a victim. It was like Reid said, the abuser walked free and the victim was locked up. Just as with Adam, Tobias had a horrific past. And, scary though it was, it almost made sense – him becoming what he was. That was the hardest part, when a tortured soul found the only outlet possible and turned into a killer. His mind had done what it had to to keep him from completely breaking down into madness.

Perhaps, had Reid not been taken, Morgan may have felt for Tobias Hankle. Just a bit. After all, the murderers were still gruesome and they were still posted on the internet, but could he help killing sinners after the awful religion-based abuse he had suffered? He was not born a killer, he was _made_ into a killer. The mind is a powerful tool.

But, this man _had_ taken Reid and then any sympathy was lost.

The only question was how did Reid still have some? After all, it was Reid who had to go through all of it, who had to stay there even when the camera was turned off.

In a way, it made Morgan mad, knowing that even then, years later, Tobias was still with Reid, probably always would be.

Reid was staring out the window on the flight back. He was one of the only ones awake, even Hotch and Rossi had put away the case files and were dozing.

Careful not to awake anyone, Morgan got up and came to sit down across from Reid.

"I don't want to talk about it," Reid said instantly, still looking out the window.

"Which part?" he asked. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Tobias and see how the man still tortured Reid just a bit every day since, but he would listen if that was what Reid needed.

"Any of it. None of it. You know what I mean."

"Look, just because of what happened with Tobias…it doesn't mean you owe anyone else anything."

"I just feel bad for him."

"I don't," Morgan said instantly, unwilling to lie. "I can't feel bad for someone who kidnapped, drugged, and stood by and watched as you were tortured."

"He didn't exactly stand by and watch," Reid corrected him, still not facing Morgan. "He also saved my life."

"And for that I'm grateful," Morgan said, realizing he needed to give just a little for this to work. He draped his arms over Reid's shoulder and pulled Reid's back to his chest. "But I won't give him my sympathy. And you shouldn't either. Otherwise, you'll never move on."

Reid frowned, but eventually sighed. "Okay."

"Promise you'll try to let this go?" Morgan asked.

Finally, Reid tilted his head back and looked up at Morgan. "I promise."

"Good."

They sealed the deal with a kiss.

 


	3. #21-30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #21-30

**#21: Change**

**Word:** Change  
**Season:** Mid season 3ish  
**Length:** 718

"This is so not what I had in mind when we said we should go away for a weekend…" Morgan whined as he dropped his duffle onto the motel's duvet cover.

"At least we'll have a story to tell when we get back," Reid placated as he shook the water out of his hair.

"Damn weather," Morgan grumbled as he looked out at the stormy sky and the pouring rain. As if in response, the sky lit up with lightening and a clap of thunder resounded. "This was supposed to be the perfect weekend."

"It doesn't matter where we are," Reid countered as he slipped out of his dripping jacket. "Everything that's important is right here," he said as he slipped his arms around Morgan and gave him a light kiss.

"A clean bed would have been nice," Morgan said as they pulled apart.

"We'll just take off the duvet, I'm sure the sheets are fine. Besides, look around, this place really isn't that bad. Most motels have, on average-"

"I suppose you're right," Morgan cut him off. It certainly wasn't relaxing, but it wasn't _dirty._ And for an emergency stop to get out of the extremely dangerous and somehow still worsening weather conditions, it could certainly be a lot worse. But Morgan had really been hoping to get to the coast that night so they could have all of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to enjoy it before heading back. Reid was right, though, he told himself in an effort to stop being so pessimistic about the whole thing, everything important _was_ right there. And really, it was only another half an hour or so to the coast. If they got up somewhat early, they'd make it with still most of the morning to go.

"I'm exhausted," Reid said and Morgan realized, with surprise, that while he'd been internally monologue-ing, Reid had changed into his pajamas. The duvet was tossed onto the floor and Reid plopped down onto the sheets with a sigh.

Slightly put out that he'd missed the show of watching Reid undress, Morgan quickly changed into his own pajamas and laid down as well. Just as they were curling into to each other, Reid's stomach grumbled and he swore. He flopped a long arm across his stomach and rolled onto his back.

"Yes?"

"Hungry," Reid mumbled with his eyes closed.

"Then let's get something," Morgan said as he propped himself up on his elbow. Or he could get it if Reid was too tired.

"How?" questioned Reid as he gestured towards the window, the rain still loud as ever.

Oh, right. Why did his upstairs brain always malfunction whenever he was around Reid?

"Maybe they have a vending machine?"

"I don't have any change left, used it all at the gas station. Figured we'd stop at an ATM tomorrow morning." Yeah, so had Morgan. "All I've got left is my credit card," Reid said.

For some reason Morgan had pegged Reid to be a cash person, the kind that only bought expensive things with credit cards and bought the rest the old fashion way. "Hang on," Reid went over to his messenger bag and dumped it upside down. Several items fell onto the bed, including two quarters. "It's a start…" he ransacked the rest of the pockets and produced one more quarter and a dime.

"Probably be at least a dollar to get anything of actual substance," he informed Reid as he too began to ransack his pockets and work bag.

**~CM~**

"How romantic," Morgan laughed as they returned. Still in their pajamas, they took off their jackets, which were only a little wet because they'd managed to stay under the motel's overhang for the most part. "Chex Mix and bottled water."

They sunk into the warm bed on their sides, the bought bag of Chex Mix and the water bottles they brought sitting between them.

"Don't be ridiculous," Reid said as he picked up one of the little squares from the snack mix. "As long as you're here, this is good enough for me." Holding the little square between his teeth, Reid pulled Morgan in with his eyes. Morgan leaned in and took the snack for himself, enjoying the savory taste, but enjoying the taste of Reid's lips even more.

**#22: Whistle**

**Word:** Whistle  
**Season:** Later seasons, possibly even past the end of the show  
**Length:** 750

"What the…? I always wondered where this went," Morgan laughed as he dangled the whistle by its rope. Reid looked over his shoulder and he smiled as he realized what Morgan was holding.

"I'd forgotten about that."

"I thought you gave this back to me?" Morgan asked. He distinctly remembered Reid tossing him back the whistle as he walked away from the ambulance after the Dowd case.

"Yeah, but I saw it on your desk the next morning, when you were getting coffee, and took it back," Reid said with a sheepish grin. His then-not-yet-announced crush for Morgan had overwhelmed him when he spotted the little whistle and he'd snatched it before anyone could notice. Silly though it was, the whistle was a gift from Morgan. And even though it was meant as a joke, it was also meant to cheer Reid up and that meant Morgan cared, so Reid, who still planned on taking his crush to the grave, had taken it as a reminder.

"You swiped it?" Morgan asked, a disbelieving smile on his face. Reid nodded.

Here they were, a few years later, and Reid couldn't believe all that had happened. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined Morgan might like him back, let alone that Morgan would _love him._ And yet, they were there, packing up Reid's things so he could move in with Morgan.

Morgan rolled his eyes and turned back to the drawers of the desk in Reid's living room. Reid, meanwhile, packed his beloved books into boxes, occasionally setting one aside to be sold instead.

Once they finished packing the last of the boxes – a good portion of the boxes and non-essential furniture had  
already been brought over - the plan was to bring them over to Morgan's place and order in pizza followed by movies. Then Saturday and Sunday morning were unpacking and melding two lives into one ( _because now they were cohabitating!_ Reid thought happily). To end the perfect weekend the team was all coming over for a relaxed dinner on Sunday to celebrate.

Reid could think of no better way to spend the weekend.

Strong arms draped over his shoulders from behind and Morgan kissed his cheek. "Want some lemonade?" he asked, his lips tickling Reid's ear.

Reid rolled his head to the side so he could see Morgan and smiled. "Sure. With extra sugar."

"Of course," he chuckled. Kissing Reid once more, Morgan said, "I'm really glad you're moving in."

"Me too."

"Fair warning, though. My ma's going to want to visit."

"I'm fine with that. I like your mother."

"She certainly likes you," Morgan grinned. His whole family did. They couldn't get enough of the adorable genius. And why not? Morgan certainly couldn't get enough.

"I thought you were getting lemonade?" Reid asked innocently.

"You're pushy," Morgan said playfully. He affectionately mussed up Reid's hair as he went towards the kitchen.

Once Morgan was in the other room, Reid leaned over and picked up the little whistle and thought backed to that night. In a way that night in the ER had started it all, as it had finally pushed Morgan to confess to Reid his feelings. It was a good thing because Reid wasn't sure he would ever be able to bring himself to tell.

He could remember his fear, not of dying, but of dying without telling Morgan. Staring at Dowd preparing to go down and take them down with them, Reid could only think of one person. One person who might never know how much he meant to Reid.

But, once they were safe, Reid fell back into his old mentality. Morgan was a player. He wasn't even gay. Imagine what he would say when Reid confessed his love? Morgan would probably try to be nice as he turned Reid down, but really, they'd never be able to go back to being friends the way they were before. Reid wasn't willing to risk their friendship.

It was a good thing Morgan was more confident or they might have gone on forever, neither ever knowing.

"Why do you always make such sugary lemonade?" Morgan demanded from the kitchen.

**#23 Dignity**

**Word:** Dignity  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 900

Reid was not normally a gambling man, but pool was really just math and physics and the beers were sitting comfortably in his stomach so he pulled the money out of his wallet and put it under his beer in the corner.

And there was perhaps a hint of satisfaction in the bewildered tough guy's face as he handed his cash over to the skinny nerd before him.

Reid glanced over at Morgan and smiled as he watched him animatedly discuss some sport. Hands flying all over the place, both halves of the conversation were clearly enjoying it. Morgan happy meant Reid was happy so he turned back to his game and hesitated. His opponent stood, hand and money outstretched with a frown growing on his face. Reid didn't like the look at all. It was the same look of thousands of schoolyard bullies as they evaluated fresh meat.

Decided that now would be a good time to stop – _Dear god was that frown turning into some sort of sadistic smile? –_ Reid pretended his heart rate hadn't just tripled and reached for the cash. The man snapped his hand back.

"Sorry, I don't pay no fairies," he snarled, a disgusted sneer crawling over his mouth.

Ignoring the bad grammar, Reid replied, "Sexual orientation has nothing to do with pool. You made a bet and lost. That money is mine fair and square." Years and years of torturous high school and college had made his voice steady calm despite the two horses named Fear and Anger that galloped wildly through his chest.

"You tricked me." The man's fat face squinted up in confusion.

"How did I trick you?" Reid asked, also sounding confused.

"Doesn't matter, I ain't paying."

 _Give it up. Just walk away,_ his mind pleaded but, skinny white nerd though he may be, he still had dignity and pride and no, he wasn't going to walk away like some kicked puppy. And no, he told himself as he resisted the urge to look over towards Morgan, he wasn't going to call his guard dog in to help.

"It's just $125. I beat you fairly, just hand over the money and we can both go our separate ways. Or we can play again and maybe you'll beat me this time." That second one wasn't going to happen, no way he'd willingly play with a fairy, and Reid would still beat him even if they did, but hey, everyone likes to have options.

The options were apparently not to his liking because he swelled with anger. Snatching up his coat, he slammed the money back in his pocket.

"Out of my way, you fucking faggot," he barked and shoved Reid aside with his meaty hand. Reid stumbled back, wincing as his back painfully slammed into a wooden support pole.

"Hey!" Morgan appeared out of thin air. Reid wanted to swear. He was _not_ a kicked puppy who needed protecting, damnit! Just once he needed to prove, not only to this homophobic prick, but to himself as well, that he could fight his own battles. He knew Morgan didn't think of him as weak or helpless, but Reid couldn't help but feel a little indignant at how often Morgan came to his rescue.

"What the hell are you doing?" Morgan demanded, spinning the guy around with a sharp yank to his shoulder. Reid had to admit, Morgan was downright scary when you went after someone who he cared about.

"Let go of me!" Morgan stumbled back as a thin line of red appeared on his cheek from the punch. Seeing the spark in his eyes, Reid leapt up and intercepted him before the fists really got flying. Gently pushing Morgan back with a hand to his chest, he feed off of Morgan's presence and glared at the man before him. With confidence only a threat to his teammates (and in some cases, more than teammates) could bring out, he stood tall and faced the bulky man.

"I believe this," his lightning fast, magician's fingers snatched the corners of the bills and pulled them from his pocket, "is mine fair and square, so how about I just take this and you and your ignorant, homophobic attitude can get the hell out of here?" The man blinked in surprised. Reid used every inch of his tall body to radiate his anger until the man resentfully turned and stalked towards the door.

"Holy shit!" Morgan exclaimed happily, a proud smile on his beaming face as he looked at Reid. Several other people were smiling at him or secretly smiling at their drink and Reid felt a different kind of flutter in his chest.

"Let's get out of here," Reid said, looking down to hide his blush, as he grabbed his coat and shoved the money in his pocket.

The proud beam didn't leave Morgan's face all night and the secretly pleased, little smile didn't leave Reid's.

**#24: Birthday**

**Word:** Birthday  
**Season:** 7, episode 13 - True Genius  
**Length:** 700

There was a troubled frown on her face as Emily walked back into the police station where the rest of the team, sans Hotch and Reid, sat. He wasn't sure where exactly she had gone, only that she went to talk to Reid about whatever had been bothering him.

It had been a strange case, a hard one, especially for Reid. A hand delivered note from an Unsub wasn't usual and Morgan had felt a jolt of fear when the guy had said he'd been told to give the envelope to Reid.

_You're not as smart as you think you are._

The words haunted Morgan. The fact that Reid either hadn't noticed or hadn't commented on the fact that Morgan was sticking extra close to him since the note only served to unsettle Morgan more.

But there was something else besides the Zodiac copy-cat killings bothering Reid. It started before the case, but Morgan had yet to find out what it was.

"How'd it go?"

"Reid figured out something on the case from the comments. Something about a newspaper, he's talking to Hotch about it now. Apparently it was written in code that was coded into another code."

"Why am I not surprised Reid figured that out?"

"Because Reid is brilliant, but that's not it."

"What?" Morgan asked, nervous worry stirring in his stomach. What could have happened? More contact from the unsub? Another note for Reid?

"His birthday." Morgan didn't understand. Did the unsub say something about his birthday?

"What?"

"Reid. His 30th birthday."

Fuck. Oh Fuck. Fucking hell in a fucking handbasket.

Reid's 30th birthday was two days ago. But that was only the second day on the case and they were busy and working really hard and god damnit, he'd forgotten. Forgotten even though there was a sticky note on his desk he'd put there almost a month ago that very specifically had a reminder about Reid's birthday, and even though there was already a few nicely wrapped gifts hiding in Morgan's closet, and even though he had already figured out a plan to go home early that day under the pretense of not feeling well in order to make a cake and set out a few decorations to surprise Reid…despite all that, he'd still forgotten. And thirty too. That was a milestone. That was when you weren't young anymore. That was when you left youth behind and began to creep towards middle age. That was when you were supposed to really settle down and get your plan for life pretty much set.

"I know," Emily said as she read the look on his face. And for a second Morgan felt both anger and a bit of relief. As terrible as he felt, at least he wasn't the only one who had forgotten. It was a testament to how busy they were that not one of seven team members remembered. And at the same time, he was mad at them. How could not one of them remember? He was the kid of the group after all. Garcia was back home with her computers, how come she didn't have a reminder or something set? But...that wasn't fair, not when he, Reid's partner, hadn't even remembered. Maybe she had a reminder and had simply dismissed it, thinking she'd remember to say something later.

"We need to throw him a party or something when we get back," Morgan said.

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "He deserves that." He did. Reid worked hard and had accomplished a lot in his few short years. Add in a shitty childhood and his unfortunate tendency to attract danger…no one deserved the simple delight of a birthday party more than Reid.

"We'll have to get some balloons, some cake…we'll cue the others in. And it'll need to be a surprise too. But I can't be the one to bring him to it or he'll catch on. Tricking a genius is not easy."

"I'll do it," Emily said with a fond smile. "I'll tell him Hotch wants to see him or something. Freak him out a little."

"Perfect."

And really, a small but pleasant party that included the rest of their team – the rest of their family – was better than what Morgan had planned. And Reid deserved the best.

**#25: Regret**

**Word:** Regret  
**Season:** **S** eason 2  
**Length:** 1300

"Are you and Reid together? Like together, together?"

Reid paused, hesitating just around the corner. His heart began to flail excitedly in his chest. The want to tell the team about what he and Morgan had was, at first, almost nonexistent, but it had morphed into a yearning. He wanted them to understand this shift in their relationship, wanted them to be happy for him. He wanted to stop hiding things.

Morgan had requested they wait longer, and Reid respected that, though it had almost slipped from his lips more than once. It was strange to realize that something that was such a regular part of your life needed to be kept hidden.

Having been almost six months since that fatal day when they finally laid all their feelings for each other out on the table, Reid suspected that Garcia and Emily had both started to wonder.

But JJ was the first to ask it so bluntly.

Reid let his eyes close in pleasure, so ready to hear Morgan to say it to someone else. That would be the ultimate confirmation. It would prove their devotion to each other. Reid didn't want to be a secret anymore, something denied and hidden.

"Morgan?" Reid's pleased expression faltered just a bit…what was taking him so long? Was it that hard to say? That bad to say?

"No…we're not together like that."

Reid barely managed to bit down on the strangled sound that almost slipped out. Omitting the truth was one thing, but down right lying was completely different…

"Really?" JJ asked, sounding surprised and just a bit suspicious.

"Yes, really."

"Are you sure? Because Morgan if you're lying…you're going to really hurt him." A bit of warmth brushed Reid's dead, shattered heart at JJ's protectiveness.

"Yes, JJ! For God's sake, let it go!" He could hear someone putting on a pot of coffee, with far more force than necessary.

Reid didn't have enough warning to move before JJ came around the corner. Her mixed expression morphed into surprise at the sight of him too fast for Reid to dissect it.

"Spencer…"

Letting his teeth click together and pulling on a mask of indifference, Reid turned away and walked promptly towards his desk. And if that confirmed anything for JJ…well Morgan damn well deserved their secret getting out.

**~CM~**

Morgan didn't get it at first. Reid could tell in the way each of his icy rebuffs surprised Morgan. He didn't realize anything was wrong, didn't realize Reid was hurt.

It was a bit of a sting to realize, had Reid not overheard, Morgan would never have told him about such an incident, probably wouldn't even give it second thought.

Morgan finally managed to corner him in the bathroom after spending all morning trying to get a minute alone with the genius.

"Did I miss something?"

"What are you talking about?" Reid asks dismissively as he continued to wash his hands, face aimed towards the sink and not meeting Morgan's piercing eyes in the mirror.

"You know what I'm talking about. You've been giving me the cold shoulder all day. Did I do something? Say something? Give me something to work with here, Spencer."

"I've been busy today, Morgan," and Reid noticed how his use of Morgan's last name didn't slip past the other agent.

"Bull, tell me what's going on." The irritation was bubbling just below Morgan's surface, clearly itching to get out.

"Why would I do that?" Morgan's mouth dropped open and he looked at Reid as though he had just announced he was joining a football league.

"Uh, gee, I don't know…maybe because we're in a relationship and that's what you do when you're in a relationship! You tell each other what's going on. With none of this bullshit secrecy, I'm fine crap."

"Well, seeing as we're not in a relationship, that argument is entirely void," Reid stated calmly as he dried his hands. "And, no, that's not my backhand way of breaking up with you," he added, when he saw the look of panic on Morgan's face. Good, he thought rather savagely.

"Then what does it mean?"

"It means, since you don't want us to be a couple, I say we stop. I'd hate to force you into something you don't want."

"Reid, what are you talking about?" Morgan looked shocked and hurt, clearly confused where all this was coming from.

"I heard you today," Reid glared, finally taking mercy, "heard you tell JJ we weren't a couple. Are you that embarrassed of us? That _ashamed_ of _me_?" Reid angrily cursed his tear ducts as his eyes began to water.

"What? What are you talking about? I'm not…Jesus Christ," Morgan moaned, dragging an exhausted hand over his face. "That has nothing to do with it."

"Then what is the reasoning? Morgan, I like being in a relationship with you and I want others to know it. I want them to see how happy you make me and I want them to share in that happiness." And damn if he didn't sound like a Hallmark movie. "I don't want us to be outed by accident or some gossipy rumor. I want to tell them ourselves." Reid suddenly realized that if someone were to walk by the bathroom door at that moment, they would be outed by accident. The irony was not lost on him.

"I know, I agree, and I want it that way too, but I'm not ready yet." He hesitated and Reid began to rip up the paper towel in his hand. "But, I swear, it was never something about you, _never._ I love you and I'm not ashamed or embarrassed or any of that. You're incredible. It's me. My problem. And I'm sorry."

Reid watched him for a careful moment, trying to let his emotions settle. Only once he felt calm did he step forward and reach his long arms over Morgan's shoulders.

"Don't be. You are who you are, no one knows that better than me. I love you. We'll tell them when we're both good and ready."

"Thank you," Morgan whispered, letting his forehead drop forward to rest against Reid's. "And about before…I'm sorry…I just…in the moment…and I wanted to talk to you before anyway…it wasn't how I wanted it to come out…"

"Shh," Reid breathed, his lips tickling against Morgan's. "It's okay."

**#26: Weak**

**Word:** Weak  
**Season:** Really doesn't matter **  
**Length:**** 700

 _"Morgan!"_ The shrill, raw cry ripped from deep inside Reid in a voice even Reid didn't recognize. Strong, restrictive arms wrapped tightly around in him before he got so much as a step forward. But they weren't the arms he wanted, not the ones he needed.

The flames billowed forth from the shattered windows and licked the sky, hazy smoke beginning to pollute the area.

The arms wouldn't let go so Reid redoubled his efforts. He had to go inside, to find Morgan, to save Morgan. He couldn't exist without Morgan and if he own being was destroyed in the attempt, then what did it matter? Why didn't arms understand this?

"Reid, stop!" Hotch commanded, regaining his grasp that Reid had managed to loosen.

Dimly, Reid thought Hotch must have gained some serious arm strength since he and Morgan had begun dating from all the restraining he had to do. If Reid was in trouble, Morgan needed to be held back, and if Morgan was in trouble, then Reid needed to be held back.

"He's in there, Hotch, he's in there!" Reid informed. Of course Hotch knew as much, he was the one who had sent Morgan and the other police in, but Reid couldn't spare enough energy for Hotch's guilt.

There was another bang, another wave of heat, and a new round of dancing flames. A knife seemed to drag through Reid's insides as he stared at the burning building. His knees went wobbly and his true weakness overcame him.

The restraining arms became the only thing holding him from a face plant on the cement, which might not be so bad, he thought. Hotch was shouting some command at someone and the sirens were screeching through the air, pounding mercilessly in Reid's head.

Apparently the position was too hard for Hotch to hold because Reid found himself lowered the rest of the way to the ground so that he was on his hands and knees like a desperate animal. He stared at the bright orange monsters that continued to devour the building. What was he doing? If their positions were reversed, Morgan would have already gotten in, saved Reid, and come out by now. All he was doing was lying on the ground like a crushed spider, watching his web get torn down.

With renewed energy, Reid shoved himself up – ignoring the droplets of blood that welled up on his scraped palms – and took off towards the building with jerky, lurching movements.

"Reid! Damnit!" Hotch shouted behind him, but it was lost in the frenzy. People, the injured and the helpers, were running around screaming and directing and making noise while debris smoldered on the ground and the air became thick with haze and pain and sweat. It swirled into one great mass of chaos, taking over all senses and allowing only his focused determination to orient him.

Globs of people spilled out of the building's exits and Reid forced his way through, only acknowledging them as obstacles between him and his goal. "Morgan!" he shouted in that shrill cry. It was punctuated with a few coughs.

The inside was worse than the outside. The outside was the chaos of fixing; the inside was the chaos of breaking. Moaning and soft cries and assurances filled up the smoky air. The smell of blood was so strong that Reid stumbled under the force of it, nearly losing his lunch.

 _"Morgan!"_ he shouted strongly and was filled with anger at his mouth for missing the memo his brain was sending and instead releasing a weak plead.

"Reid?" I've lost it, he thought. And now of all times. "Reid?" A hand touching his shoulder. Arms wrapping around him. A voice whispering 'I love you'.

And it was okay to be weak then because there was Morgan to be strong for both of them. He would return the favor at some point. They always did. Because, while they were each other's weaknesses, they were also each other's strength.

**#27: Loneliness**

**Word:** Loneliness  
**Season:** Kinda spans through time **  
**Length:**** 500

There's something kind of lonely about being a profiler.

Sure, he had coworkers he would die for and who were possibly even closer than family, but that wasn't the same. The spent copious amounts of time together at work, and when the work day ended and the case came to a close, they liked to go to their own homes and take a breath of space. There was only so much you could take of a certain group of people.

The crazy work schedule pretty much put a no-go on any normal relationship and, strange though it was, even the player Morgan had almost no social life outside of work. Relationships were just too hard to maintain in their line of work.

As a result, Morgan spent many weekends by himself, catching up on sleep, working out, and watching sports. A good way to spend the weekend, but a lonely one nonetheless. Clooney provided the companionship only a dog could, but he couldn't provide the company only a human could.

Many time he'd told himself he'd go hit the bars, maybe take up casual chat with someone at the gym…anything to slightly broaden his social horizons beyond that of coworkers, but there was always something: too tired, too busy, too whatever. While the emotional rollercoaster was certainly not enviable, Morgan did feel a tinge bit jealous of Hotch for having someone at home waiting for him, ready to just _be there._

Morgan didn't have that and sometimes the empty house and the blinking zero on the message machine seemed the worst thing in the world. The greatly desired space and room to relax became too vast and empty.

But that all changed one day.

Once it was all over and Morgan was falling in to bed, a large smile infecting his whole face, he laughed at his own doubt, his own insecurities, because what had he been waiting for? Life couldn't get any better and it had been right in front of him, his for the taking.

Reid was a profiler too. He knew the crazy schedule, the stress, the exhaustion. He understood how sometimes you didn't want to go out, didn't want a fancy meal, didn't even want romantic interactions at all, you just wanted to curl up in sweatpants and veg on the couch or just relax. Reid understood how sometimes you just needed someone to _be there._

There was nothing better than coming home from a touch case and relaxing into Morgan's big, leather couch, bodies intertwined and a soft blanket on top. Nothing better than just drifting to sleep with a warm body next to yours, wanting and demanding nothing, simply enjoying your presence.

That was what was so special about them, Morgan concluded. They provided each other with more than just love, more than just a romantic relationship. They provided someone to go out with, someone to stay in with, someone to joke with, someone to cry with. They provided someone to _exist_ with.

With Reid, there was never any more loneliness.

**#28: Unequal**

**Word:** Unequal  
**Season:** Wherever your heart desires, I guess. **  
**Length:**** 900

 **Note #1:** I'm not 100% this FDA regulation is still in effect, but from what I read on Wikipedia, it is. Don't take my word on that though :)  
**Note #2:** If you recognize this scene, it is very similar to one from another show I used to watch. The scene stuck with me and I pretty much just rearranged it. I can totally see Morgan acting this way. No copyright infringement intended.

A hand gently squeezed Morgan's shoulder and he turned to see JJ's sympathetic eyes and sad smile. Hotch was sitting across the room, his chin resting in his palm while his other hand drummed on the armrest. Prentiss and Rossi were back at the police station continuing to look for the missing girl and trying to get her location out of Walters. Hotch didn't think he'd crack. Though if anyone could get him to, it'd be this team. Walters had committed the ultimate sin in their eyes, he'd gone after their youngest, and that was unforgivable.

A haggard looking doctor walked in and they all got quickly to their feet.

"How is he?" Hotch asked. Morgan looked beyond words, reduced to grunts of worry and fists of anger. JJ looked professional as ever, but Hotch could see the water she kept blinking out of her eyes and the faint tremble of her fingers.

"The damage from the stab wound is repairable, but…the blood loss is preventing us from preforming surgery at this point. His vitals are too unstable. We won't be able to proceed any further until we can give him transfusions."

"Then what are you waiting for?" JJ asked, eyebrows furrowed together and her eyes clear and inquisitive.

The doctor ran a hand through his hair, before returning to fiddling with the pen on the clipboard – a nervous habit Hotch had picked up on. Whatever he was about to say was not something they were going to like.

"We're low on his blood type. This isn't a big hospital and there was a bad car pileup just this afternoon. We're calling around, but it could take some time. Would any of you like to be tested to see if you can donate?"

Hotch thought that was a pretty stupid question, because who wouldn't want to donate to save the life of someone they loved? It was unnecessary, however, because Hotch knew their blood types, it was in their files, and knew Morgan was the only one who had an eligible blood type. But if the doctor had seen what Hotch had thought he'd seen…

"I'm O-, that's the universal donor, right?" Morgan asked, stepping forward and already rolling up his sleeve, like the doctor was just going to pull a needle out of nowhere.

The doctor shifted awkwardly and Hotch knew that he had seen and come to the logical conclusion. It had been a simple gesture – Morgan, with clothes stained with blood, had given a quick kiss to Reid's pale, practically lifeless hand as he was wheeled from the back of the ambulance. A small gesture, but one big enough. Regulations were regulations, Hotch could understand that. He knew their binding frustration all too well.

"Are…are you gay?" the doctor asked, looking quite uncomfortable.

Morgan looked slightly taken aback by the question. "So what?" he demanded harshly, jerking his arm forward again, like the doctor might have forgotten its presence.

"Gay and bisexuals can't donate blood," Hotch informed quietly. Morgan pinned him with a furious look as though Hotch himself had made the rule.

"He's right, it's FDA regulation for any male that's had sex with another male since 1977," the doctor added. Morgan's glare swung around to pin him. He swallowed and began fiddling even more with the pen.

"What?" JJ demanded, her maternal mess-with-my-babies-and-you-die look coming out to play.

"The risk of HIV is considered to be too great." The doctor looked both apologetic and afraid of Morgan's looming frame. "Neither of you are eligible?" The doctor glanced between Hotch and JJ, ignoring the furious man right in front of him.

"Neither of us are," Hotch confirmed.

"I'll keep you updated," he said, a tiny squeak worming its way into his sentence, before scurrying away.

"Son of a bitch," Morgan spat after him. His angry glare dropped to the floor, apparently testing out whether he could actually burn holes through it with just his eyes.

"That's wrong…that's discrimination," JJ said quietly as she sat down with a look of confusion.

"That's fear. They're scared and they're just trying to keep everyone safe. Sit down, Morgan," he added when Morgan looked ready to charge down the hall after him and coerce him into taking his blood, "he didn't make the regulations. He's just doing his job."

"His job is to help people, Hotch," Morgan growled back. "If Reid…" his voice cracked and he ran a hand over his head, swallowing hard.

"He's not gonna die," JJ snapped, this time unable to blink away the water that slipped out and down her cheeks.

"He'll be fine, Morgan," Hotch said sincerely. He tried to project both confidence and honesty, letting his soul bare just a little. "He always is." A rare, tiny smile slid onto Hotch's face and was soon reflected back from the other two agents. Somehow Reid always was fine. No matter what. The kid was a bit elastic like that. Always bouncing back.

Inhaling deeply, Morgan sat down. Once again, JJ's small hand rested on his shoulder.

**#29: Trust**

**Word:** Trust  
**Season:** Probably in season 3, but really your pick. Takes place when Rossi  & Prentiss are there because that's what I think of when I think of the team.  
**Length:** 700

Morgan could see the slight disappointment on Reid's face as yet another person made a joke about his age. That was all they ever saw. They didn't see what Morgan saw. It all went right over their head in favor of his age. The courage, the strength, the loyalty, the grace under pressure – they didn't see any of it. They saw him as they wanted to see him – in the simplest of terms. That was how they saw the whole team team.

The stoic, uncaring leader who handled each situation with a collected impassiveness they found intimidating.

The wise, experienced agent who was famous and perhaps past his prime.

The unflinching, sassy female agent who was tough, confident, and ultimately unshakable.

The blonde girl, who was only there to look good in front of the camera and pat distraught relatives on the back.

Then there was the strong, tough guy, who was macho and arrogant and cared more for his reputation than team mates.

And lastly, there was the nerdy stick who, while socially incompetent, just loved to flaunt his knowledge and rub it in people's faces.

It was all untrue of course, but people in general liked to stick people into nice little boxes based on first judgments and in those boxes they stayed. It didn't matter that sometimes Hotch got too connected to the case, or that JJ was just as good behind a gun as she was behind a camera, or that Morgan would die for any of his teammates, or even that Reid was incredible at his job and was certainly not arrogant about his knowledge.

But let them think whatever they wanted.

**~CM~**

"He sure is young," the police chief said as he came up beside Morgan, who was watching Reid create a geographic profile across the room, at the coffee station.

Resisting his urge to cringe, Morgan just said, "Yeah."

"Skinny too. As a stick." Getting defensive, Morgan barely resisted the urge to make some blatantly sexual comment on his love of Reid's skinny body.

"Yeah," he said through grit teeth.

"Is it true? That the FBI had to waive some of the restrictions to get him in? Because he couldn't do all the physical stuff?"

Morgan's head snapped over to face him.

"Where did you hear that?" he demanded.

"Over heard him say it himself to one of my beat cops." As usual, a bit of frustration welled up in Morgan. It happened every time Reid told someone. All Morgan could think was: _Don't give them ammunition._ His Reid had been hurt before and Morgan didn't trust these people not to hurt his Reid even more. Morgan didn't hold it against Reid, but that didn't mean others wouldn't.

But there was also pride. Because in a way, Reid was removing their ammunition. You can't hurt someone if they're already loud and proud about it. Reid no longer ducked his head in shame as he explained that the FBI had waived some restrictions for him. Now he just said it with a nod and that Did You Know look he got whenever he was spouting off facts. Reid knew the truth and he was okay with that, so it couldn't be used against him. Reid had finally reached that confidence and Morgan was proud of him, even if he didn't trust these people not to try to take Reid down.

Looking at Morgan doubtfully, the police chief asked, "That doesn't worry you? I mean, if he couldn't do it then, what makes you think he can do it now? What if he makes a mistake in the field? The physical requirements are there for a reason." Frowning, and apparently unable to wrap his head around the concept, the man asked, "Seriously, how can you know he's got your back?" At Morgan's impassive with a hint of warning face, the man stumbled for a second. "I mean…do you really trust him?"

"Yeah, I do. More than anyone else actually."

**#30: Boredom**

**Word:** Boredom  
**Season:** Probably in season 2 or 3 , but really your pick.  
**Length:** 800

"Morgan," Reid said, barely acknowledging the annoyance, the first time.

"Morgan," he admonished, the tiniest hint of crossness in his voice, the fifth time.

"Morgan." An irritated response, bordering on a growl the tenth time.

"Morgan!" Fifteen times. Morgan made a mental note, that had to be a new record. Reid's tolerance for annoyances while he was working before he finally lifted his head from his work and spun around in his chair to frown, was apparently in short order today. Morgan gave himself a little pat on the back. He'd never annoyed Reid so quickly before.

While Reid believed in bringing work home to catch up on work over the weekends, Morgan did not. And what was he supposed to do Saturday afternoon if Reid was preoccupied. Watch TV? Clean the house? Or, god forbid, do some of his own paperwork? Boring.

Weekends weren't for work, Morgan insisted.

"Yes?" Morgan asked innocently.

"This," he frowned as he cupped his hand and swept fourteen little balls of crumpled paper into the recycling bin before grabbing the latest one from his hair and adding it to the rest, "is not going to help me get this work done any faster."

"I'm bored." That had come out sounding far more childish than Morgan would ever admit to, but it was true nonetheless.

"Really? I couldn't tell," Reid replied sarcastically.

"Then let's do something."

"I need to get this work done."

"There's a reason we go to _work_ all week, Pretty Boy. It's so we can get our _work_ done. At _work_. That's where _work_ is supposed to be done."

Reid sighed in frustration and Morgan took pleasure in realizing that he had just gotten his way. "What do you want to do?"

There were about a hundred ways Morgan could respond to that that were less than appropriate…

A devilish smile slid onto Morgan's face and Reid paused, suspicion clear on his face.

"I'll be right back!" Morgan promised with a wink as he slipped out of the room.

Reid sat with a frown for a few seconds. What the…? His mind stumbled over possibilities while he sat dutifully. "Come here!" Morgan finally called. Knowing that this wasn't going to end well, Reid walked quietly towards where his voice had come from.

"Where are you?" he asked in surprise when he couldn't see Morgan. Feeling a bit childish, he slowly looked around the corner of the doorway just in case. He wasn't going to walk into a trap. Morgan had been known to play a prank now and then, though he was usually pretty good about not startling ( _scaring!)_ Reid since, well, that didn't go well for people in their profession. If Morgan, or anyone, were to jump out and surprise them they'd probably have a gun in their face quicker than you could say 'Surprise!'.

"Outside!"

"Morgan, what-?" He didn't get to finish. As soon as he opened the door, something slammed into his face and he stumbled back. There was an icy pain in his cheeks and at first he started to panic because holy crap he was just shot.

But wait, no, not shot. Cold not hot. No pain. Wet? Blinking open his eyes, Reid spied Morgan, a second snowball at the ready.

"Morgan!" He shouted, but the agitation was lost as he grinned. He reached into the closet and grabbed the first thing he found – Morgan's sweatshirt, and so what, because this was Morgan's idea so his sweatshirt could suffer the consequences – and leapt out into the pristine snow. It was still pure and undisturbed except for the line of footsteps to where Morgan stood.

Reid scooped up a snowball of his own and grinned in triumph when it smacked into Morgan's chest. Morgan looked a bit surprise at Reid's good aim, but wasted no time in returning fire.

Snowballs flew for almost ten minutes before, just as Reid was about to deliver a face shot, Morgan grabbed him up by his waist and they both flopped into the snow.

"Cheater!" Reid shouted as he struggled to get up, Morgan trying to hold him down.

"I was not cheating!"

"This, this is cheating! You're just mad because I was winning!"

"There's no winning in a snowball fight," Morgan countered, even though he himself had decided loser had to make lunch. When Reid argued that you couldn't win or lose really, Morgan had declared him too scared to try.

Reid gave up struggling and let himself fall next to Morgan. Finally still, with the snow seeping into the fabric, it was only just getting to Reid how cold it was. He couldn't suppress a shiver.

Morgan's arm snaked over and drew Reid in close, letting their combined body heats keep them warm.

"This is going to be one seriously messed up snow angel," Reid couldn't help but point out.

Their laughter resounded in the snow covered yard, and Reid decided that work could wait because this was way better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and feedback (or kudos) is love! If you have any word suggestions, let me know!


	4. #31-40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #31-40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long, but I'm finally getting my ass back in gear if the recent slew of H50 works hasn't already told you. 
> 
> Just a heads up #33-35 are a continuous one that deal with cheating. These drabbles were pretty strongly hated at FF.net so I had taken them all down. I'm putting them back up here because I can. I'm sorry if they seem OOC or unrealistic, but I feel it was close to how I thought their characters might react, including forgiveness. Since I was attacked as being too naive and obviously unknowledgeable about the topic, I just want to preempt this by saying I have been cheated on. It does suck. I'm still writing it this way because I think some relationships are greater than that. Please no hate.

**#31: Watch**

**Word:** Watch  
**Season:** Early Season 2  
**Length:** 700

“Reid?” Morgan’s fingers wandered across the wall looking for the light switch. “Reid? Why are the lights all off?” Finally his fingers found their target and the room was illuminated. “Spencer?” Still no answer.

He went down the hallway towards the bedroom, anxious fear beginning to tingle in his stomach. Very quietly he pushed open the bedroom door, swallowing thickly. What would he find? Reid sleeping? Reid beaten and tied up? No Reid? Or worse – a dead Reid? He shivered at the thought.

Not so.

There were maybe twenty candles scattered around the edges of the room, on the small tables, bureaus, even the floor. Reid was sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, a ring of rose petals around him, thicker near him then spreading out into a thin trickle. In his hands was a small box which Reid brushed his thumb over unconsciously. As the light of the flames flicker across Reid’s eyes, Morgan could see a playful quality in them.

“Um, hello,” Morgan said, trying not to sound too surprised.

“Hey.”

“Um…?”

“Don’t you know what day it is?” Morgan grinned. Of course he did.

“Six months,” he replied.

“Six months to the day,” Reid clarified.

“To the day,” Morgan repeated, bending over and pulling Reid into a quick but loving kiss. “So?” Morgan questioned as he gestured to the rose petals.

“Wanted to do something and saw it in a magazine,” he said with a shrug. “It was much more…romantic in the picture…” he trailed off doubtfully as he frowned at the petals.

“Nonsense, it’s amazing,” he countered. Reid looked up at him shyly, his sweet brown eyes melting Morgan even more. Dear God, the power those eyes had over him!

“Well, good,” he chuckled. “Because it was really hard to climb into the circle without disturbing the petals.”

“Could have done the petals after you sat down.”

“What would I do with the bag they came from?” Reid asked with a smile. “Now join me, I think it’s about time the petals _did_ get disturbed.” He loved when Reid let a little confidence slip out.

Taking Reid’s offered hand, he was pulled down next to him.

“Before we do anything,” Reid’s voice flickered back to nervousness and Morgan wished the confidence he loved so much would come back out to play. Reid gently offered the box in his hand to Morgan.

“You didn’t have to-”

“Did you get me something?”

“Yes…” A hint of a smug smile danced across Reid’s features for a minute.

“So go on, then, open it.”

Morgan did, feeling a strange flicker of anticipation in his chest – Jesus, he hadn’t felt this way about a  gift since he was ten opening Christmas presents! They had of course, exchanged a few small gifts so far, but this was the first big deal. Six whole months. Half a year. Half an amazing year. He couldn’t wait for more.

“Reid…” he whispered when he saw.

A beautiful gold-plated watch with a sleek black face shone gloriously up at him.

“It’s engraved on the back…” Reid said timidly. With a smile of reassurance, Morgan turned it in his hands to stare at the back of the face.

ALWAYS

Reid was blushing like a school girl, which only got worse when Morgan grinned at him. “Do you…do you like it?”

“I love it. I love you.” Morgan kissed him lightly before returning to admire his new watch. It certainly wasn’t a cheap one that was for sure. And for Reid, such an indecisive person, it must have taken for ever to finally decide upon one. It was that much more special.

“Thank you so much. It’s beautiful,” he said honestly. He gently set the watch back into the box and went to reach for Reid’s gift – hidden under the bed in a wrapped box, a silk, purple scarf – when Reid stopped his hand. For a second Reid looked to be debating with himself before deciding, yes, it was time for the confidence to come back out.

The pale hand moved to Morgan’s shirt which he gripped and pulled Morgan towards him. “I think maybe it’s time for…” Still tugging, Reid laid back, pulling Morgan on top of him. “…an intermission,” he said as rose petals mixed into his hair.

 

**#32: Disgust**

**Word:** Disgust  
**Season:** Wherever you want – this one ties in with #28 (Unequal)  
**Length:** 930

“He should have died. The fucking kid wasn’t worth saving.”

Just like that Morgan was up and across the room and delivering a damn good right hook to the little shit. The little shit that nearly killed Reid.

“Morgan! Morgan, calm down!” Hotch shouted, his arms wrapping tightly around Morgan as he struggled to pull him off the smaller man.

“He almost killed Reid! And he’s fucking laughing about it!” Morgan snarled, unable to control the boiling rage wailing away inside of him.

“Outside! Now!” Hotch ordered, forcibly pulling Morgan out of the interrogation room, arms still locked around him in a controlling manhandle. Once he yanked the door shut, Morgan jerked out of his arms and turned to face the wall, panting heavily.

“He almost killed Reid.”

“I know,” Hotch confirmed, his own disgust showing through, “but now is not the time. Don’t make me take you off the case.”

Morgan’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You wouldn’t dare.” He had to make an effort to avoid inserting a swear or two into the sentence.

“I can and will. I won’t have this case dismissed because you assaulted our suspect. They’ll claim we beat a confession out of him. He’s the only one who knows where Kate is and she’s running out of time. Now, can you handle yourself professionally or not?”

“Yeah,” he grunted.

“I know you want to get back at him, hell, I do too. But the best way to get revenge is to save that girl’s life. Otherwise he wins. Reid is going to be okay, Derek. You were there when the doctor said so. You practically took his head off when he first came out,” Hotch reminded. “He _almost_ killed Reid. But he didn’t. Don’t let yourself get into trouble, Reid’s gonna need you while he recovers.”

Morgan took a deep breath and nodded.

“Good.”

“I was starting to worry,” Walters said as the agents entered.

He leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed and a self-satisfied look on his face. “He bumped into me, you know. Literally bumped into me. Even apologized. He didn’t realize who I was at first. Understandable of course, there was a pretty big crowd. After all, an average Joe and his average wife were just murdered and their child abducted,” he said, grinning and running his tongue over his teeth. “A horrendous crime.” Walters looked right into Morgan’s eyes as the agents came to stand on the other side of the table. “He did a double take. It was really…cute,” he mocked. Criminals certainly did make good profilers. “Then he took off running after me. People were screaming and he was calling for back up, I couldn’t really hear much though. I was _laughing._

“You’d think FBI agents would have better training, he fell for it so easy. I just went around the corner and waited. Barely thirty seconds later, he burst around the corner and BAM!” He slammed his hand down on the table, a loud smack resounding in the tiny room. Sighing in pleasure, he leaned back. “You should have heard the noise he made when the knife went in. Went right through, almost all the way.”

Morgan knew. He was the second person around that corner. As soon as he heard Hotch say “Reid’s got him! He’s in pursuit!” Morgan tore out of the crime scene and sprinted down the sidewalk after Reid’s bobbing head, uncaringly shoving people out of the way. He’d tackled Walters – and by tackled, he meant a flying pounce – just before Hotch appeared with handcuffs. In a flash, Morgan was by Reid’s side, completely forgetting about Walters and focusing only Reid and the knife and the blood. So much blood. A horrendous stain on the brick wall, where Reid had jerked back, and a smear all the way to the ground, as Reid slid down, where it pooled. It was gurgling out of Reid’s mouth and running all down his chin while it practically gushed out of his chest, over his now stained red hands, and onto the cold ground.

“When I heard he lived…I was _disgusted._ Doctors should have let him die. He was a weak, disgusting, useless, _fag._ ”

Screw professionalism.

Morgan snagged the man up by his collar and shoved him into the wall. Hotch didn’t stop him. He glanced out the window to signal to turn the interrogation room camera off for a minute.

“No, you’re disgusting,” Morgan spat. “Killing people in their sleep, kidnaping little girls from their beds…you’re a coward.”

Unfazed, Walters replied coolly, “It doesn’t matter. The only evidence you have will go down with the little bitch’s body. It’ll be worthless by the time you find it.” Morgan and Hotch both paused.

Looking out towards where he knew the other agents to be, Hotch asked, “Did you hear that?”

“Garcia says Walters owns a boat at Blue Water Marina,” Prentiss dutifully replied over their earpieces. “We’re headed there right now.”

Morgan relaxed and let Walters slid down the wall to rest on his feet.

“Don’t worry,” Morgan replied jeeringly, “We’ll get to your boat long before it sinks.” Walters’ eyes widened and his mouth slipped just a millimeter. “Gotcha,” Morgan whispered with his own self-satisfied smirk.

Two beat cops came in to take Walters to a holding cell for the time being. Hotch and Morgan stood side by side at the end of the hall and watched as the pissed killer swore and struggled all the way.

“New rule,” Hotch said, his gaze not wavering, “Reid doesn’t go around corners first.”

“Agreed.”

 

**#33: Betrayal**

**Word:** Betrayal  
**Season:** 5x04: Hopeless  
**Length:** 900

“It’s over, we caught them,” Morgan whispered softly. The relief was obvious as it crashed into the skinny body.

A hesitant pause then, spoken softly, “Do you want to come in?”

“No,” he replied automatically. Then he paused to actually think it over. No was the right answer of course. The right answer was to go home to his house and call Reid to talk, should maybe even go over and see how Reid was. Crutches had to take a toll on a person.

But if he wanted to be with Reid at the moment, he wouldn’t be standing outside some woman’s apartment without Reid’s knowledge.

‘ _I think you should cut contact with Tamara Barnes’_ Garcia had warned. And by all means he should have listened, but life doesn’t always work like that.

“Sure,” he said and her smile lit back up. She stepped aside and he entered.

“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing towards the couch, “Do you want something to drink? Beer?”

“Sure, beer’s fine.” Tamara turned towards the kitchen and Morgan’s eyes couldn’t help but track her ass as it swayed with the movement of walking.

He never told Reid that he was attracted to girls as well. Not in the same way, of course. He could… _appreciate_ their beauty and even enjoy sex with them, but it didn’t make him feel as satisfied, and not _nearly_ as much as Reid made him feel.

But he couldn’t say that to Reid’s already hesitant face as he pondered Morgan’s very first request for a date, couldn’t tell the self-conscious man that he not only had every man to compete with, but every _person_ to compete with. To be fair, Morgan didn’t understand Reid’s doubt, because there was no one Morgan wanted more and Reid certainly didn’t need to compete because he’d already won, but Reid didn’t get that.

And yet here he was, sitting on Tamara Barnes couch, taking her offered beer, and feeling a tingle of warmth go up his spine as she sat unnecessarily close to him.

He could clearly see the look on Reid’s face from earlier. Reid was sitting at one of the desks, working on something or other, rubbing his aching knee, and Morgan was across the room, hands on Tamara’s shoulders, as he gently pushed her down into a chair to calm her down. They glanced up at the same time and Reid’s doubt and fear flashed in his eyes for a second before the younger man looked back down, trusting.

It wasn’t like he was _doing_ anything though, he comforted himself. Since when was sitting on the couch of a friend a crime? Maybe not a friend…but at least good acquaintances. He was only here to provide comfort and closure. Her brother had been beaten to death with a crowbar, he was only helping.

“I really appreciate you doing all this,” she said gently, her eyes revealing her alternative motives as she leaned up against his shoulder.

“No problem,” he whispered. Any louder and he was worried  his voice might quiver. She was turning him on all right. Morgan tried to remind himself that he could easily leave now, go over to Reid’s, and end their long day with a long night.

However, Reid was all the way over there and Tamara was right here, just as willing as Reid. Wasn’t variety the spice of life, anyway?

She was getting closer, her intense eyes staring right into his, boring holes through to his soul. Well, to the edge of his soul anyway…events might change if she really saw everything that made up who he was…like the fact that not only was he in a relationship, but it was with a guy.

That’d end the night real quick.

“You’re so good at what you do, catching bad guys, saving lives. It’s very…brave,” she whispered, resting her hand on his chest. Saving lives? Yeah, her mind was as far away from her brother and the real reason he’d come here and on a totally different subject.

_“Relax, Reid, I’m not going anywhere,” he assured Reid as the fifth girl of the evening to try to flirt with him sashayed away to get herself a drink at the bar._

God, he was pathetic. He had everything he could possibly want - including a cute, smart, _loyal,_ boyfriend – and still he wasn’t satisfied.

She was practically sitting in his lap now.

“Well, say something,” she said, a naughty smile on her face.

 _‘I love you’_ Reid’s voice whispered in his head.

Reid’s voice repeated over and over while his mind began to haze over as she continued to lean closer, causing all connections between mouth and brain to break down.

“Uh…I like…your couch.”

What the fuck was that?

Tamara paused for a minute, blinking a couple times as she tried to regain her footing in the situation, before letting out a small laugh and continuing to lean closer. Their chests now fully pressed together, noses only an inch apart, “Why don’t you lay down and I can show _all_ its features?” she breathed.

Well shit.

**~CM~**

“Call me,” she said as she slipped her bra back on. Morgan made it to the door, feeling quite jumpy, and slipped on his shoes. He didn’t even notice he was only wearing one sock.

With no promises and no good-byes, he left.

Morgan didn’t answer when Reid called later that night.

 

**#34: Confrontation**

**Word:** Confrontation  
**Season:** 5x04 – Connected to #33  
**Length:** 1200

Somehow Reid knew. And Morgan knew he knew.

Morgan walked into the apartment, sliding off his coat and closing the door as he went. Reid disappeared back into the kitchen. They’d made this little…date almost two weeks ago. Before the case, before _that_ happened.

And Morgan couldn’t break it. Life ( _work)_ had been busy lately and they hadn’t been seeing as much of each other so they had planned a little dinner and a movie in type thing. And Reid had been so excited. Morgan had been too until…but he didn’t have it in him to cancel.

He went into the kitchen and dropped into a chair. He vaguely noted that Reid had forgone the crutches for the night, choosing instead to limp. Reid had a habit of doing that at his place. The inner profiler in Morgan suggested maybe it had something to do with vulnerability and weakness, but he chose not to look into it and instead chalked it down to simple inconvenience.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked quietly as Reid checked on something in the oven.

“Chicken parmesan,” he replied tonelessly.

One of Morgan’s favorites.

Fuck.

“What movie?”

“Haven’t picked.”

“Oh.” If this was any indication of how the night was going to go…the night wouldn’t go well.

“This needs about twenty more minutes. We could get it started.” Morgan tried to ignore the fact that a few weeks ago – bum knee or no bum knee – ‘get it started’ would not have meant the movie.

“Okay.”

They settled on some action-packed, alien-invasion movie with Will Smith and took seats on the couch to watch. Normally, Morgan leaned up against one of the arm rests with Reid resting on his chest, their long legs intertwined across the other couch cushions. And Morgan would run his hands through the soft brown hair and Reid would smile and burrow closer, occasionally placing a gentle kiss on Morgan’s chest.

Not tonight.

The empty space on his chest weighed a ton. Morgan was sitting on one end of the couch, legs resting on the coffee table in that way that Reid always complained about but secretly didn’t mind, and Reid was on the complete opposite end of the couch, knees drawn up to somehow form a ball with all the gangly limbs. It took a surprising amount of restraint to avoid reaching out and pulling Reid next to him. The empty air was cold and his fingers jumpy.

This wasn’t what Morgan expected. He expected Reid to yell, throw out some of the classics – “how could you?”, “aren’t I enough”, blah blah blah – but not this. This was terrible. Not knowing what was going on in Reid’s head, waiting for the other shoe to drop. This sure as hell couldn’t go on much longer. They needed to hash it out, perhaps ignore each other for a week, make up (followed by some nice make-up activities), and move on.

“Reid?” The tightly coiled muscles coiled even tighter.

“Yes?” Morgan didn’t say anything because he didn’t really have a question. It was an invitation, an ‘ _out with it, man!’_ to get the ball rolling. But Reid wasn’t biting.

“Nothing…”

Reid shifted, still keeping his eyes on the movie screen.

And finally: “Did you sleep with her?” he asked quietly. Reid turned and his watery, agonized eyes went straight through him. The pure pain expressed so freely was so alarming that it brought up a sense of panic in Morgan. Wrong, wrong, everything was wrong.

Shame and guilt and _anger_ at himself for putting that look on Reid’s face built up in him and he found himself almost shaking with the intensity of it. Bad, bad, everything was bad.

Derek was not a strong man.

“No.”

He was weak.

The change was alarming, like someone flicked a switch. Someone in Reid’s head pulled down the curtains over his eyes because they went blank and someone turned off the anxiety switch because his muscles relaxed into a less nervous, more dangerous state. His back straightened and the legs spilled off the couch.

Like some great power, some great fury, Reid rose to his feet, the air static with his energy as he glared down at Morgan.

“Get. Out.” Lethal. Not at all Reid. Reid was quiet and content or loud and emotional, not this. This was dangerous, this was venomous.

Morgan stuttered. No, no, no. This wasn’t right. What happened to the script? He didn’t get to explain, say his part, the caught up in the moment part. He didn’t get to say his _I’m sorry_ s or his _I love you_ s or his _Never again, never again, I swear, because I love you so much, my heart will curl up and die without you_.

“Now,” Reid whispered. Morgan stood up on shaky legs, cursing Reid’s height because he was still towering over him.

“I-”

“-cheated on me,” Reid finished. “And you know what, that’s okay. Really, I understand. 1 in every 4.76 people do. Life isn’t perfect. I could forgive and forget. But you…you…” he started to shake with suppressed emotion and Morgan took a step back. He’d seen Reid break down in sadness or freak out in anxiety, but he’d never seen him explode in rage. “You have the audacity to come to _my_ apartment, sit on _my_ couch, look me _right in the eye_ , and _LIE?_ ” Morgan started to worry maybe he’d made a fatal mistake. Reid had said – and a part of him knew (hoped?) – that he could forgive and forget before, but now…

“You have some serious guts, Derek Morgan. Cheat on me if you want. I want you to be happy and if I can’t do that, then fine,” Morgan wanted to cut in and scream _no! no, it’s not you! You are more amazing than you ever realize and I’m the one who’s not enough! And dear god, don’t ever let anyone treat you like that (even me)_ but Reid plowed on. “But be honest. Tell me. Before, after, I don’t care.” Once again Morgan wanted to break in. Before? _God, no!_ It wasn’t planned, it was ‘heat of the moment’ bullshit, not…no, he’d never seek out to cheat on Spencer, how could Reid even think…?

“I don’t think honesty is too much to ask. Hell, I’m not even asking for monogamy here! But if simple, decent honesty is too much…then this isn’t going to work. I want you to get out of my apartment.” He took a few steps forward, herding Morgan backwards towards the door.

“Spencer, please-”

“There is nothing you can say. You lied _right to my face_ when you knew I already knew and there is no excuse for that. No possible reasoning that can make that okay.” Reid reached for the doorknob and pulled it open. “I want you out now. And I don’t want you to call me in an hour or tomorrow or drop by suddenly or send I’m sorry texts. I want you to back off.”

Shoving his shoes and jacket into his arms, Reid gave the final shove that literally pushed Morgan out of the door. He could hear the Chicken Parmesan timer going off as the door slammed shut.

 

**#35: Garcia**

**Word:** Garcia  
**Season:** 5x04 – Connected to #33 & 34  
**Length:** 1400

Penelope fidgeted with the hem of her skirt as she frowned out at the bullpen.  There was one thing she hated and that was when one of her friends was hurting. And now both her Chocolate Thunder and her Boy Genius were hurting, badly.

Reid sat stiff as a board, determinedly working on a case report and studiously ignoring his surroundings. Morgan was better at hiding his tension, but only to an untrained eye. He was sitting normally and working on his paperwork at a normal pace – slow and lazy – but every now and then his eyes would flit worriedly over to Reid.

He was worried. And if Derek Morgan, who was confident if nothing else, was unsure about his relationship, then Garcia was worried to. She didn’t know what happened but if her quiet, forgiving Junior G-Man was broody and pissed…

That wouldn’t do at all. She’d just have to do something.

She waited for Reid to get up and get more coffee, as he did every morning at nine – the genius was like a coffee vacuum or something – before striding forward with determination.

“What happened to my Junior G-Man?” she demanded as she came up next to Morgan. His eyes only flicked up for a moment before returning to his work.

“We had a fight,” he said resignedly. The image of protective Morgan and quiet Reid yelling at each other was certainly not a familiar one and it made her cringe to picture it. Glancing around, Garcia grabbed Morgan’s wrist and pulled him up.

“Follow me.” He sighed but followed her, Morgan’s wrist still in her grasp. Once inside her office, she shut the door and gave Morgan a little push towards her chair. “What happened?” As much as she hated to say it, she had a feeling this fight had been a result of a mistake on Morgan’s part. Reid was not hot-headed and rarely defensive; being yelled at usually just made him look like a puppy kicked one too many times. And right now he just looked pissed and bitter. So it was only logical to come to the conclusion that Morgan had been the one to do something.

She really hoped she was wrong.

“I did something I shouldn’t have.” Garcia took a moment to pray that whatever it was, it would pass because god (and Garcia) knew that these two wouldn’t be able to walk away from each other.

“What? What did you do?” Garcia asked. She desperately wanted to sit down or move or do something other than stand there and stare at Morgan while he fidgeted.

“I…it was so stupid. I got…caught up in the moment…” An icy hand wrapped tight around Garcia’s heart.

“Derek Morgan, you spit it out right now because you’re making me think something I don’t want to think about.” Morgan gave her a helpless look and she realized he couldn’t ease her fear. “You didn’t,” she whispered.

“I did,” he confirmed.

“Who?”

“Tamara Barnes.” Her shocked mouth closed with a snap and her eyes narrowed because she told him, goddamnit! She told him very specifically to back off that girl, it would only end badly!

“Morgan, how could you?”

“He was okay with it,” Morgan said quietly, glancing around at some of the stuff on the desks and very blatantly avoiding eye contact. “Reid, that is. He said he would have been okay with the cheating.”

“Would have been?” _No, Reid,_ she thought, _don’t value yourself so low._ Even if it was Morgan she was defending Reid against.

“But I lied about it and he said that wasn’t fair.”

“It wasn’t,” Garcia said bluntly. Where had her Morgan gone?

“I know, but I was so mad at myself for doing it, and I felt so guilty, I couldn’t bring myself to own up.”

“Even for Reid?”

“Even for Reid.”

Closing her eyes, Garcia took a moment to let her emotion flow out of her. She was angry and a bit disappointed, yes, but that didn’t matter right now. Mistake or no mistake, her Chocolate Thunder and her Junior G-Man needed each other. The world would surely fall to chaos if they didn’t make up and soon. And it was her job as Team Pep-Captain to make that happen.

Morgan made a mistake. Okay, it happens. Reid was pissed. Okay, he had a right to be. Time for everyone to have a good heart to heart, admit they were still madly in love, and forgive and forget. Time for things to get back to normal and for emotional wounds to be healed with some love.

Once Penelope decided on her best tactic, she opened her eyes. Morgan was slumped over, head in his hands, looking incredibly stressed.

“All right then.” Morgan looked up.

“What?”

“All right then. If you don’t want to be with Reid, that’s fine. There are enough fishes in the sea for the both of you.” She walked past him and picked up some files and shifted some papers around, trying to make it look like she was working.

“What?” he demanded, standing up. “What are you talking about?”

“Clearly you and Reid are over each other, and that’s fine. It was bound to happen sooner or later.” She could see anger flickering in Morgan’s eyes. _Good_ , she thought. _Prove to me and you just how much Reid means to you. Prove this mistake is not the end; that you’ll fight to get your Reid back._

“Reid and I are not over! We just had a fight! We’ll get through this, we just need some time. And what do you mean sooner or later? Are you saying you knew this would happen? Because I sure as hell didn’t. I would never-”

“But you did,” she said innocently. She stared at him curiously, letting the anger sweep over her. For Reid and Morgan, there was nothing she wouldn’t do. Even if she had to be the bad guy.

“But I didn’t mean to! I would never do it again! I never meant to hurt Reid,” he added the last part quietly, as he sank back into the chair. “I love him,” he added, more to himself than Garcia.

“Then tell him.” He looked to see Garcia, clearly noticing her body language was entirely different. He’d realized he’ been played…but what did it matter? What he said was true either way.

“He doesn’t want to hear it.”

“That’s not true, Derek,” she said softly. Lightly grabbing Morgan’s hands, she pulled him up. “Reid wants you back just as much as you want him back. He’s not really angry, just scared. He’s scared that you don’t want him or that you don’t think he’s enough.”

“That’s not it. He wasn’t angry about that, he was angry I lied.”

“Of course he was. It told him that you didn’t care about or respect his feelings and dismissed a problem that meant a lot to him.”

“So what do I do?”

“Answer me this: Do you love him? Do you want him back? Are you willing to do anything to get him back?”

“God, Garcia, yes!” She could tell he was getting flustered with her apparent doubt of his dedication. Of course she didn’t doubt him, but once again, had to play the bad guy to get a point across. “Yes to all of them. He’s everything to me.”

“Then get up, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and go tell him. Swallow your pride, admit you made a mistake, and prove that you’re willing to fight for him.”

Morgan glanced over at the door as though he’d be able to see Reid through it. “Thanks, Baby Girl.” He hugged her, gave a quick kiss on the cheek, and left.

She followed after him, not all the way, just enough to see, and watched as Morgan tapped Reid on the shoulder and began to talk quickly. Reid got an angry look on his face first, but Morgan pushed on first and soon Reid’s face slid to wide-eyed to hurt to something closer to calm contentment, matching smiles sliding onto their faces.

Mission accomplished.

 

**#36: Sunrise**

**Word:** Sunrise  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 500

There were a few things Morgan became aware of once he awoke. First off, it was still early, the sun was only just peaking in the window. Secondly, he was pretty sure he wasn’t in his own bed and he was really sure he wasn’t in the bed alone. His face was pressed up against the curve of someone’s neck.

Some party last night.

The team had got together to kick off the New Year and it had turned into quite the party. Responsibility had flown out the window. Rossi had drank a bit too much (apparently so had Morgan), Garcia and JJ had sang karaoke, Emily had done some shots, and Hotch had even gone so far as to take his tie off.

Morgan yawned then took pleasure in the way it made the tips of Reid’s hair dance. Rubbing a hand over his head, Morgan sat up and looked around.

Wow.

They were, in fact, in Reid’s bedroom. The normally tidy room looked as though a very pissed off badger had been locked inside. The hamper had been knocked over and all four of their shoes were lying randomly about (he didn’t want to know how that one got on top of the bureau…). He could recall vague snippets of seeing the others off in taxis before stumbling with Reid into the bedroom, both of them too drunk to walk properly.

Despite their intentions, Morgan was pretty sure they didn’t so much as kiss before passing out.

Looking over at Reid, he had to suppress laughter. The lanky doctor was wearing only pants and a tie, with nothing in between. Morgan was fairly certain that that was his dress shirt hanging out of the sock drawer, but he couldn’t be sure. And he didn’t even want to know where the socks ended up.

Morgan himself wasn’t much better. He did have a shirt, but his pants were gone, boldly showing his dotted boxers off for Reid’s bedroom to see. Somehow his socks were still on his feet, though one was badly twisted.

He tried to get out of the bed and into the bathroom to retrieve some Advil for his headache, but the sheets wouldn’t seem to untwist from around his legs. Giving it up as a lost cause, he tried to wiggle back up behind Reid, but the sheets wouldn’t let him go that way either.

“What’re you doing?” Reid asked sleepily, one brown eye cracked open as he peered over his shoulder, while Morgan growled and fought against the beige linens.

“Your sheets are trying to prevent me from getting any closer to you.” Reid, who had one leg under the sheet and one on top, smirked and sat up. He pushed his disastrously messy hair back from his face.

The sun was half up and the beautiful golden streaks began to slink around the room. A halo lit up behind Reid making him look like some mythical being. A mythical being so powerful it could wear a tie with no shirt.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth. Feel free to beat the sheets into submission while I’m gone,” Reid said as he gracefully slipped out of the bed and went into the bathroom, only stumbling once.

“He likes me better,” Morgan told the sheets then wondered what the fuck he was doing.

**#36B: Sunrise (B)**

**Word:** Sunrise (B)  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 800

“Morgan…Morgan, wake up.” Morgan made a noncommittal noise back because, honestly, it was too early for human words. “Wake up.” The soft tone was enough to get one eye to open blearily. Reid snickered.

“Wassup?” Morgan slurred back. On some subconscious profiler level he noted Reid’s relaxed features and let himself acknowledge there was no threat.

Grinning Reid replied, “Get up, I want to show you something.”

“Can’t it wait until later? ‘s like three in the morning.”

“It’s quarter to six, Morgan,” Reid said, unable to keep the faint laugh out of his voice.

“Still too early for a weekend,” Morgan argued even though he knew he’d already succumbed to the puppy dog eyes Reid was unintentionally sending him. The things he did for this kid… “I’m up, I’m up,” he said as Reid began to make impatient noises.

“We’re going to run out of time…” That piqued Morgan’s interest.

“What is this magical thing?” Reid just rolled his eyes and shoved shoes at Morgan. He felt silly putting on sneakers with his cotton t-shirt and pants, but Reid, who was also in his pajamas, was apparently in a hurry.

“Where are we going?” Morgan asked as Reid shut his apartment door behind him. Reid just shushed him. It wasn’t for several minutes climbing stairs did Morgan realize where they were going.

“Are we even allowed up here?” he asked as Reid rammed his shoulder into the old door to get it to budge.

“Probably not,” Reid conceded as he stepped out into the early morning air. There was nothing spectacular about the rooftop as far as Morgan could tell (it was still dark after all) and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what Reid intended to do up here.

“Reid, what are we doing up here? The sun’s not even up yet, man. Normal people aren’t supposed to be up before the sun.” Reid rolled his eyes and walked towards the edge, making Morgan’s heart beat faster. “Be careful,” he cautioned, earning another eye roll. But, to his relief, Reid didn’t go all the way to the edge and instead sat down on the large metal thing jutting out of the gravel covered roof. An air duct of some sort, perhaps?

“Come on,” Reid called. Reid’s shape was barely visible, the light from the open doorway stopping a few feet short of him.

“What is this about?” Morgan asked as he sat down next to the skinny genius on the freezing metal.

“Just watch,” Reid whispered. He shifted and leaned up against Morgan, who in turn wrapped an arm around the younger man and pressed a kiss to his hair. Feeling substantially better with Reid pressed against him, Morgan took a relaxing breath, rested his head on Reid’s, and watched.

He didn’t get it at first. But when he did get it, he really got it.

It was…amazing.

Pinks and oranges the color of tropical fruit began to wash over the light. From their high vantage point they could watch as the sunlight crept forward over taking the shadows and chasing the dark line back. Then the colors swept in like a faint brush stroke to illuminate the nooks and crannies with pale yet vibrant colors. The warmth began to prickle along his skin and it tugged a smile from him.

The world they lived in was so dark and so bad, yet here this was. Entirely untainted. The sunrise that happened every day, every morning without fail, starting each and every day with a pure beauty Morgan had never seen before. Never like this, anyway. It was warm and gentle like soft beach sand with a light tide or the feeling of the position in bed you found once every few weeks that was just so comfortable you couldn’t even conceive to get up. It was sleeping in or breakfast in bed. Ice cream in the park or kissing in the rain. It was everything wonderful.

Morgan caught Reid watching him out of the corner of his eye with a knowing smile on his face.

“Well?”

“It was worth getting up for,” Morgan agreed. A quick kiss then he pulled Reid back next to him so he could bury his nose in the sweet smelling hair and soak all the warmth in.

He had seen the sunrise many times before, albeit never from such a height, but he had never felt such immense enjoyment, such immense awe at it before. So, logically, he had to conclude, it was not seeing the sunrise that made him feel this way.

It was seeing the honest and true peaceful happiness on the face of the man he loved as he pulled them even closer together to bask in the beauty and warmth.

**#37: Eager**

**Word:** Eager  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 900

Morgan’s eyes flicked over the clock for probably the hundredth time in an hour. Reid should be back by now…

Hotch and Reid had gone to do an interview with a serial killer on death row and his assistant. It was only five days counting travel, six at the most. In theory, it shouldn’t have been so bad.

But only the second evening in, Morgan found himself picking up the phone to see if the younger man wanted to come over for dinner and a movie. More than once he found himself sitting in his living room wondering what the hell he did with his life before Reid came into it. He wasn’t sure when every part of his life had come to involve Reid, but it had happened. 

They talked on the phone whenever they both had time, which was, admittedly, not often.

But, Morgan thought as he glanced back up to the clock, they should be back any minute now. He looked over at Prentiss when he heard a chuckle then scowled at her knowing raised eyebrow.

“Despite what you seem to think, looking at the clock will not make them get here any sooner,” she said, clearly trying not to laugh at him.

“I know but-”

“Junior G-Man!” Morgan’s head jerked up as Garcia, who had apparently been coming to pay him a visit, swerved towards Hotch and Reid standing in the doorway. “Bossman!”

Morgan leapt to his feet, once again ignoring Prentiss (who got to her feet with a bit more dignity) as she chuckled at him.

Morgan rushed up to Reid, but abruptly stopped when he realized they weren’t exactly alone. He averted his eyes from Reid’s faint smirk and knowing eyes, trying to ignore Prentiss’s snickering and Garcia’s faint cooing noise.

“Erm,” he cleared his throat, “it’s, uh, good to have you both back.”

“It’s nice to know you missed me so much, Morgan,” Hotch said calmly, though he was clearly fighting a smile.

“So,” Prentiss said, apparently struggling to keep from laughing, “how did the interview go?”

“Oh, it was very interesting!” Reid said brightly, mind already diverted. He broke from the pack to drop his bag onto his desk. His nimble hands fetched a notebook, immediately briefing the others on the aspects that had seemed textbook and the aspects that were unusual.

Morgan wasn’t listening, instead he just stared, well aware of the dopey grin on his face but without enough care to rearrange his facial features, as Reid talked animatedly, waving his hands and provided multi paragraph answers to Prentiss’s one or two word questions. His eyes were bright and his voice was confident.

“You know,” Hotch said from behind him. “The work day doesn’t end until 5 o’clock.” Morgan looked over at him, his grin slipping off.

Right, there were still another two hours before he could get Reid alone. Hotch raised his knowing eyebrows and went to his office.

After Reid finished regaling Prentiss and grossing out Garcia, they went back to their respective areas and went back to work.

Taking a deep breath, Morgan sat down and focused at the paperwork in front of him.

Six whole days.

Nearly a week since he’d seen Reid. Since he’d touched Reid. Since he’d felt Reid’s warm body curled up next to him, ran his fingers through the silky hair, since he’d felt the soft lips on his.

Groaning to himself, Morgan got up to get some water and hopefully focus.

No such luck.

The clock was painfully slow as it ticked away and the faint hums Reid made when he noticed an error or finished off something were painfully loud.

His hands itched to run all over Reid’s body, as if it’d vastly changed in the last six days.

Morgan didn’t get much done in the two remaining hours. He was restless. He got several cups of water and rearranged his paperwork three times, until it was back where it started.

Finally, a few eons later, the clock hit five. Morgan certainly hadn’t done anything like packing up at 4:55 and waiting the last few minutes, eyes zeroed in on the clock, like a kid at the end of the school day.

But, you know, that’s sort of exactly what he did.

He made impatient noises as Reid finished off his work (for God’s sake, it was 5:03! He was supposed to stop three minutes ago, not whenever he finished!) and was nearly snorting in impatience as Reid packed up leisurely and said a casual ‘have a good weekend’ to practically _every single person in the building_ before they finally made it outside.

Morgan was pretty sure he sounded downright feral by the time Reid said he wanted to go to his place and change clothes, he had traveled all day in them, before going over to Morgan.

But when he opened the door thirty minutes later, it was Reid who pounced on him, burying his head in Morgan’s neck with his arms latched tightly on, breathing deeply and whispering ‘missed you’.

“Missed you too,” he said with a smile as he pulled the door shut and maneuvered himself and Reid (who had apparently picked up koala tendencies while away) into the living room.

**#38: Spontaneous**

**Word:** Spontaneous  
**Season:** Any  
**Length:** 600

It’s been one of those days.

Nothing bad has happened. They didn’t even have a case. An unusual break filled with the comforting monotony of paperwork and casual chats.

But it was just one of those days and Reid had known it would be from the minute he had gotten up. Still tired and sore from an unfortunate sleeping position, Reid had forced himself out of bed. Despite having the most normal and safe day possible for a bureau agent, he couldn’t help but feel off.

After driving home and parking, he’d passed his building and looped a few blocks before finally going in. The wind was refreshing, but he couldn’t shake his feelings. The knowledge that he likely wouldn’t get another day without having to race off to some previously unknown place to look at people’s mangled lives. And the never ending terror of the day a case would go too far wrong and one of them would never return home. The crushing awareness of just how much human evil there was in the world, existing without end. Whenever they caught someone, another would crop up to take their place.

People would never stop hurting each other.

It was overwhelming. Knowing, no matter how many criminals they stopped, how many people they saved, it would never be enough in the long run. Human lives are so short and insignificant in the long run.

These feelings were far from unfamiliar to Reid, even though they were often murky, just an overwhelmed, dissatisfied feeling in the back of his mind. Sometimes it was triggered by a particularly horrifying case or a close call for himself or a teammate. Mostly though it was spontaneous, just something there when he woke up.

Finally, as small drops began to fall and he was forced to admit a thin cardigan was not enough of a jacket, he gave up his walk, not surprised to find no sudden resolution to his moodiness. He hadn’t solved all the world’s problems and he hadn’t solved his own.

He was surprised, however, to see something resting upright on his kitchen table. It took him a moment to process what it was.

A dozen roses, deep red and fresh, sitting in one of his rarely used vases. Standing in the doorway, he stared at them with a mild bit of horror – had he forgotten a holiday? A special occasion? But no, he was quite certain he hadn’t.

There was a note sitting on the table.

_Reid,_

_Hope you don’t mind I let myself in. Didn’t want to leave these guys in the hall._

_Just wanted to say I love you._

_Morgan_

Random then. A spontaneous declaration of love. It was bizarre and exactly the sort of thing he could picture Morgan doing, standing in Reid’s empty kitchen, cutting the rose stems as his mother had taught him, all just to brighten Reid’s day. Just because he could.

A surge of love filled him so fast, it was almost startling. Morgan was…something truly special. Reid was lucky to have him. Maybe he’d show his appreciation with a homemade dinner (though considering his skill-level a nice night out was probably less likely to end in food poisoning).

He sent Morgan a quick text of thanks and followed it up with a simple ‘ _I love you’._

 _Love you too,_ he got back almost immediately.

Changing into his pajamas, Reid curled into bed with a book he’d been meaning to read. For a moment he stared at the flowers, now positioned on his bedside table. They looked even more lovely in the soft yellow light.

The world was a cruel place but as long as Reid had someone to love him, he’d make it just fine.

**#39: Kite**

**Word:** Kite  
**Season:** Late season 3 – references to 2x14/15 (Big Game & Revelations), 3x08 (3rd Life), 3x12 (Lucky), 3x16 (Elephants Memory)  
**Length:** 500

There’s a small, blue kite dancing in the sky. Reid’s eyes track its movement while the joyous shouts of the kite’s young owner echo through the air. The air is warm and cold in that way only spring air can be and a gentle wind rustles through the young man’s hair.

His thoughts drift with the wind. He thinks first of Owen Savage. Of a life wasted. He sees laughing faces, Alexa Lisbon’s pretty face contorted in mockery among a sea of jeering onlookers. He feels Jordan’s misery, Hotch’s anger, and the coin in his pocket. The emotions pound at him from all sides, tugging and pulling and leaving an unclear mess in their wake.

As if he’d hit a repeat button in his mind the never ending scene starts again in his head. Lindsey Vaughan screams in his ears, begging her father to kill the teenager. _He killed Katie!_ Ryan begs for his life. The shotgun goes off and blood decorates the wall, a porcelain silence remaining behind.

Reid shuts his eyes then opens them and focuses on the blue of the sky.

The itch crawls through him. His fingers tingle with it. Clamping one hand down on the coin in his pocket, he tries to drive his mind elsewhere, beyond the want and the desire. As with most things, the more he tries not to think of it, the more his mind focuses in. The warmth spreading through his veins and the fuzziness in his brain…but also Morgan’s worried looks and Prentiss’ hurt eyes.

Beyond him somewhere he can hear Garcia laughing.

He sees her in the hospital, weak and scared. He sees her in her house, jumpy and frightened.

He would kill to forget.

There’s so much. So much loss of life, so much blood, so much horror in the world.

He hears the scream as a college student burns to death, he smells the blood as a teenager scared of himself tries to take his life.

He feels the pain and fear he felt each and every time someone on his team was in danger.

He thinks of Gideon, of Elle. Of his father, of his mother.

Deep inside, he wants to gouge out his eyes, block his ears, _make it stop._

But he doesn’t. He won’t give up.

Even if he wants to.

“Reid! Get over here, Kid!” Morgan calls cheerily, unaware of the inner turmoil.

No, he won’t give up, he won’t give in. Not yet, not while there are still things worth living for.

Stiffly, he stands up from the park bench and turns to where Morgan, JJ, and Garcia sit on a picnic blanket with a basket filled to the brim with all sorts of goodie, courtesy of Garcia. Reid sits down silently and Morgan pulls him in for a sloppy kiss. JJ lets out a soft laugh at the sight as she pulls food from the basket. With his arm around Reid, Morgan makes a comment to JJ and they laugh. Garcia’s knowing eyes find Reid’s. She understands. She smiles.

He remembers the laughs and the hugs. The smiles and the nicknames. Gentle kisses in the night and a warm body pressed against his.

He nods back at her and she grins before joining JJ and Morgan’s conversation. Morgan’s chest shakes in laughter against his side.

Reid looks up and watches the small, blue kite dancing in the sky.

**#40: Harbor**

**Word:** Harbor  
**Season:** Connects to #3B (Water)  
**Length:** 800

The scenery blurred by as his legs pumped, his mind focused only on his goal. His heart thumped in time with his feet on the pavement, whispering _faster, faster_ with each beat.  He can hear Reid’s voice repeating in his head, telling them all the Unsub was at dock 7.

The pounding of his feet changed into something hollower as he swerved onto the wooden docks. Prentiss’ footfalls kept in time with his, just a few feet behind.

_3…_

The muscles in his legs were on fire, pain racing up and down with each step, but he kept pushing them, trying to shave off as many milliseconds as he could.

_4…_

“Reid! Reid, come in! Say something!” Hotch shouted over the intercom. The usually impassive leader’s panic was as obvious as the panic flooding through Morgan. Because he could see dock…

_5…_

and there was no skinny figure up ahead, silhouetted against the water.

“Reid!” Prentiss called from behind him. Morgan realized that the other person shouting was him.

_6…_

There was no one, nothing, in the distance now. Where the hell was Reid? Horrible thoughts started jumping through his mind. Reid dragged to the bottom of the lake, Reid kidnapped, Reid tortured, Reid killed. _No!_

_7…_

Morgan turned sharply and continued his momentum all the way to the end of dock 7 like maybe Reid was hiding between the cracks.

As he came to a stop at the edge, Morgan was forced to admit Reid was not here. Since he was here last and had yet to report, it was a reasonable conclusion something terrible really had happened. Worry and a thousand other emotions mashed up his insides and it took all he had not to throw up.

The water was moving.

When he bent over to catch his breath, he noticed the water was lapping up against the edge of the dock with unnatural force. He peered closer, in danger of falling into the water, and sure enough!

Something – two somethings – were twisted and making waves a good ten or so feet down.

“Morgan, what-?” The rest of Prentiss’ question was cut off as Morgan dove into the water, which _whooshed_ through his ears with a roar.

Tylers was holding Reid from behind, his muscular arms trapping the rapidly weakening man. Reid was still jerking in his hold slightly, but his head was lolling with the movement of the water and his eyes were drooping.

A jolt of panic shot through Morgan. He dove down and took advantage of Tylers’ momentary shock. He ripped the strong arms back and shoved the man as hard as he could (which wasn’t very hard considering they were in water and Morgan went back just as far as Tylers did).

Using the only spare second he would probably have, Morgan grabbed onto a rather dazed looking Reid’s bicep and yanked him up. He was loathe to break the small amount of contact – _alive! Reid was alive, he’d be fine! –_ but he had to deal with the UnSub so for that moment he had to trust that momentum and Reid’s own instincts would be enough to carry him to the surface.

Drawing his attention back to Tylers, Morgan snagged the man’s ankle as he attempted to swim away, apparently deciding to use his oxygen supply to his advantage in other ways. Wrapping one arm across the man’s broad chest, not unlike the hold he’d just had on Reid, Morgan attempted to hold both of his struggling arms in place with one arm while get the mask off with the other.

Something flashed in his peripheral and Morgan jerked his head up to see Reid hovering torpidly in the water. Clearly his worry for Morgan was putting a good fight up against his survival instincts.

Morgan gestured up, but Reid blinked at him. Morgan gestured more.

Reid’s eyes went wide as adrenaline once more surged his body in its final attempt to save his life and Reid was soon moving upward, seemingly without conscious decision.

Barely a second after the last of Reid disappeared above the surface, Hotch appeared in the water. Between him and Morgan they managed to control Tylers enough to drag him to the surface. Morgan ripped the battered mask and tank off the man just as they broke the surface.

Morgan’s own lungs were aching and his legs now felt ready to be amputated, but it was worth it for the glimpse of Reid panting on the docks. Prentiss appeared at his shoulder, which Morgan took as his cue to dash over to Reid.

Reid was lying on his back, hair sticking to his face, panting hard.

Cold relief washed over Morgan and he grinned weakly.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Reid whispered, voice gravely. Needing some assurance that he was really safe, Morgan pulled the limp and unresisting body to his chest and breathed in the salty smell of his hair, the sun warm on his back and Reid’s chest rising and falling against his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise the rest anytime soon because these were written before my FF hiatus and so far I've only written H50 since I've been back. But your comments do motivate and inspire me so hopefully some day (soon) I'll finish this monster!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and feedback (or kudos) is love! If there is interest I'm considering continuing past 50. If you have any word suggestions, let me know!


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